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A KEY 



THE OLD TESTAMENT, 



APOCRYPHA 



AN ACCOUNT OF THEIR SEVERAL BOOKS, 
OF THE CONTENTS AND AUTHORS, 

AND OF THE 

TIMES IN WHICH THEY WERE RESPECTIVELY WRITTEN. 



ROBERT GRA Y, D. D. 

LATE LORD BISHOP OF BRISTOL. 



TENTH EDITION, 

REVISED. 



LONDON: 
PRINTED FOR J, G. F. & J. R1VINGTON, 

st. paul's church yard, 
and waterloo place, fall mall- 

1841. 



i 






<j4rl 



LONDON : 
GILBERT & RIVINGTON, PRINTERS, 

3T. john's square. 



[DEDICATION PREFIXED TO THE PRECEDING EDITION.} 



TO THE 



REV. JOSEPH HOLDEN POTT, 



ARCHDEACON OF LONDON, AND VICAR OF KENSINGTON. 



In looking back to those sentiments of regard which I 
addressed to } 7 ou in the former impressions of this work, 
it is gratifying to me to find the friendship of my earlier 
days confirmed by the reflections of maturer age ; and 
to renew, at a more advanced period of life, the ex- 
pression of the most lively feelings of attachment and 
respect. 

The repeated proofs of approbation which this volume 
has experienced, have led me to endeavour to render 
the present edition more deserving of the public sanc- 
tion, and more useful as well to students in divinity as 
to the general reader. With this view I have intro- 
duced additional remarks and corrections in various 
parts of the work, and have carefully revised the autho- 

a 2 



IV DEDICATION. 

rities produced, noting, as accurately as possible, the 
references, and accommodating them to the best edi- 
tions, particularly to those of the Fathers, and early 
writers. 

The extensive encouragement which the work has 
received, will afford, I trust, some subject of satisfaction 
to you ; especially from the recollection of the favour- 
able opinion which you expressed on its appearance, 
conferring a value upon the first fruits of my applica- 
tion to those studies which you had assiduously encou- 
raged me to cultivate; and countenancing an early 
tribute of veneration for those Scriptures, of which, by 
your learned and judicious remarks, you have often 
pointed out the perfections, and of which you uniformly 
illustrate the beneficial influence by the distinguished 
example of your conversation and life. 

I remain, my dear Sir, 

with very sincere regard,* 

Your most faithful friend, 

R. BRISTOL. 



Palace, Bristol, 
Jan. 15, 1829. 



PREFACE. 



The useful Key to the New Testament, by Doctor 
Percy, Bishop of Dromore, suggested the idea of the 
present work, first published in 1790. It was appre- 
hended that a similar assistance to the perusal of the 
Books of the Old Testament, would prove equally con- 
venient to those who might not have either leisure or 
opportunities to consult larger publications, for scattered 
information. A difference in the description of the 
books here treated of, has compelled the author to 
adopt a more diffusive and discursive method of con- 
ducting his subjects than that which is followed by the 
learned prelate. The uncertainty of the dates and 
authors of some books, the objections to opinions gene- 
rally established, and the mixed character, and miscel- 
laneous contents of the works considered, have neces- 
sarily occasioned complicated and extended discussions. 
The author was desirous of exhibiting in one point 
of view, the probable period of each book, the charac- 
ter and design of its writer, and the proofs of, or 
grounds for disputing its inspiration. He wished to 



VI PREFACE. 

present the reader with a general sketch of the respec- 
tive importance of each, of its intrinsic pretensions and 
external sanctions; and to impart, in a compendious 
description, whatever might contribute to illustrate its 
history and contents. This he has done in a manner 
as concise as the subject would well admit, considering 
that it was designed to prefix general information and 
remarks as introductory, and separately to examine 
such questions as were immediately connected with the 
particular scope of the individual book. He judged it 
also improper to deliver opinions, without stating the 
reasons on which they were founded, or to adopt deci- 
sions on disputed or doubtful points, without producing, 
at least, the most considerable objections that might be 
urged against them, lest the reader should be led to 
decide on partial grounds. 

Since the books often contain passages of obscure 
interpretation, and doubtful import ; also dates, names, 
and other particulars, upon the explanation of which 
their character for antiquity and authority must in 
some measure rest, it was impossible to avoid critical 
and chronological questions. In consequence of these, 
the notes have been increased in number and extent, 
beyond what was at first intended. The reader will, 
however, hereby be saved the trouble of referring to 
commentators ; or, if unwilling to acquiesce in the de- 
cision adopted, he may readily find the foundation and 
authorities on which it was established. 

As the inspiration of the canonical books was to be 



PREFACE. Vll 

proved, it was often requisite to point out the accom- 
plishment of prophecy; which, therefore, the author 
has done, in the most signal instances, though com- 
monly by reference only and cursory observation. He 
presumes, however, that he has thereby often unfolded 
an interesting scene, or opened a wide field of instruc- 
tive inquiry. The importance, likewise, of some dis- 
coveries and remarks which learned commentators have 
imparted, and the interest which sometimes attaches 
to ancient Versions and Paraphrases have, in some 
instances, tempted the Author to introduce particulars 
that may be thought too minute for a general and 
compendious Introduction ; but he has usually endea- 
voured to confine himself to such comments as contri- 
bute to general illustration, or are explanatory of pas- 
sages immediately subjected to the reader's attention. 
He apprehends, that if the reader should occasionally 
discover observations which reflect only an oblique or 
partial light on the sacred volume, he will not be dis- 
pleased, even though it should appear that a larger 
space is thereby allotted to some books than their com- 
parative importance may seem to justify. 

It was thought expedient, also, occasionally to advert 
to those popular mistakes and light objections which 
float in society, and operate on weak minds to the pre- 
judice of the sacred books, as the author was conscious 
that fairly to state, was in some measure to refute them, 
and that they often produce more than their due effect 
because indistinctly viewed. In consequence of this 



Vlll PREFACE. 

design, he may, perhaps, be thought to have introduced 
remarks too obvious and trivial. The sincere and dis- 
passionate inquirer after truth, who has deliberately 
weighed the evidence on which the Scriptures rest, 
cannot readily believe that a passage partially consi- 
dered, a misconception of a revealed design, or a fan- 
cied inconsistency with pre-conceived opinions, should 
be allowed to affect the character, or diminish the in- 
fluence of the sacred books, established as their autho- 
rity is by the connected and incontrovertible evidence 
of successive ages: but experience fully proves that 
these are the foundations on which ignorance and infi- 
delity ground their disrespect for the inspired writings. 

The author has been cautious in treating of the 
canonical and apocryphal books, to discriminate their 
respective pretensions with accuracy; since, however 
valuable the latter may be considered for their general 
excellence, it is necessary to keep inviolate, and free 
from all intermixture, that consecrated canon in which 
the holy oracles were preserved by the Jews, which was 
stamped as infallible by the testimony of Christ and his 
apostles, and which, in the first and purest ages of the 
Church, was reverenced (together with the inspired 
books of the New Testament) as the only source of re- 
vealed wisdom, the invaluable gift of Providence, our 
guide in all the vicissitudes of life, our chart of direction, 
through faith in the atonement of Christ, to a state of 
eternal happiness. 

The whole design of the author has been to assist 



PREFACE. IX 

the reader in forming a just conception of the character 
of the Old Testament, and of those uninspired books 
which are reputed to have been written under the first- 
dispensation ; and to supply such introductory intelli- 
gence, as might enable others to read them with 
pleasure and advantage. He lays claim to no praise, 
but that of having brought into a regular form such 
information as he could collect from various works, to 
illustrate the Book of Divine Wisdom. He acknow- 
ledges himself in the most unrestrained terms, to have 
borrowed from all authors of established reputation, 
such materials as he could find, after having deliber- 
ately considered and impartially collated their accounts. 
He has appropriated such obvious information as was 
to be collected from those writers who are universally 
known to have treated on the sacred books l ; and he 
has endeavoured farther to enrich and substantiate his 
accounts by diligent and extensive research. He has 
not wished to conceal the sources from which he has 
drawn his information, nor has he scrupled in some 
instances to employ the words of the writers whom he 
has consulted. The authorities (which have been fre- 
quently multiplied with a design to afford assistance to 
those who might wish to pursue the subjects in con- 
templation) have been cautiously reviewed and cor- 
rected in the present edition, especially on important 
and controverted points. 

1 As Josephus, Eusebius, Jerom, Grotius, Huet, Calmet, Du Pin, 
Patrick, Lowth, &c. &c. 



X PREFACE. 

If, in some instances, the author should be found to 
have been misled in inquiries carried up to remote 
periods ; or, if in a miscellaneous work, composed and 
published in early life, there be defects which at a 
maturer age he has not detected, he trusts that they 
are of little moment, and have no tendency to diminish 
the reverence due to those holy writings, which are 
themselves free from error. 

An awful apprehension, and a prayer for forgiveness 
for involuntary mistakes, must ever become those who 
attempt to illustrate the Book of Life, or to bring 
forward, with defective views, the evidence that " all 
Scripture is given by inspiration of God," and " able to 
make men wise unto salvation." 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Preface v 

Introduction 1 

Of the Pentateuch 43 

Genesis ... 75 

Exodus 94 

Leviticus .... 101 

Numbers 110 

Deuteronomy 116 

General Preface to the Historical Books 125 

Of Joshua , 139 

Judges 150 

Ruth 161 

Of the first Book of Samuel 167 

Of the second Book of Samuel 175 

Of the first Book of Kings 181 

Of the second Book of Kings 187 

Of the first Book of Chronicles 192 

Of the second Book of Chronicles 197 

Of Ezra 202 

Nehemiah 212 

Esther . • 221 

Job 228 

Psalms 255 

Proverbs 274 

Ecclesiastes 286 

The Song of Solomon 295 

General Preface to the Prophets 307 

Of Isaiah 352 

Jeremiah 366 

Of the Lamentations of Jeremiah 377 

OfEzekiel 384 

Daniel 396 

General Preface to the minor Prophets 411 

Hosea 417 

Joel 425 

Amos 432 



Xll CONTENTS, 

PAGE 

OfObadiah 439 

Jonah 444 

Micah 453 

Natmm 458 

Habakkuk 464 

Zephaniah 471 

Haggai 476 

Zechariah 482 

Malachi 494 



Preface to the Apocryphal Books 501 

Of the first Book of Esdras 513 

Of the second Book of Esdras 518 

OfTobit 531 

Of Judith 543 

Of the rest of the Chapters of Esther 552 

Of the Wisdom of Solomon 558 

Of Ecclesiasticus '.. 570 

OfBaruch 581 

Of the Song of the Three Children 591 

Of the History of Susannah 595 

Of the History of Bel and the Dragon 599 

Of the Prayer of Manasses . 603 

Of the first Book of Maccabees 606 

Of the second Book of Maccabees 615 







ERRATA. 






In the 


Text. 


Page 186. 


line 1. 


for " 


: Ahaz" read " Ahab." 


351. 


— 5. 


after 


under insert our. 






In the 


Notes. 


Page 5. 


note 2. 


line 


2. 


for liii. read lii. 


11. 


5. 


— 


2. 


omit xxix. 7. 


44. 


3. 


— 


1. 


for Numbers xxxiii. 4. read xxxiii. 2. 


45. 


6. 


— 


2. 


for Heb. xi. 23. read xi. 28. 


46. 


3. 


— 


1. 


for Acts xxvii. read xxviii. 


48. 


4. 


— 


1. 


for "Ezra. iv. 8. read vii. 6. 


56. 


6. 


— 


2. 


for 1565 read 1655. 


103. 


■ 6. 


— 


1. 


for Exod. xii. 4. read xii. 46. 


177. 


7. 


— 


1. 


omit 25, 26. 


235. 


6. 


— 


1. 


for ii. 33. read iii. 33. 


241. 


6. 


— 


8, 


for xliii. 11. read xlii. 11. 


261. 


3. 


— 


3. 


for cxv. read xcv. 



INTRODUCTION 



The Bible, which in its original import implies only 
The Book \ is a word appropriated by way of eminence, 
to that collection of the Scriptures, which have at 
different times been composed by persons divinely in- 
spired. It contains the several revelations delivered 
from God to mankind for their instruction. Those 
communicated before the birth of Christ, are included 
under that division of the Bible, which is distinguished 
by the title of the Old Testament 2 , and of that division 
only it is here meant to treat. The Old Testament 
comprehends all those sacred books which were written 
by the descendants of Israel, a people selected by God 
for important purposes to " be a Kingdom of Priests, 
and an Holy Nation 3 ." Among this people successive 
prophets and inspired writers were appointed by God 

1 BifiXLov vel [3ip\ia, Liber, from Bi(3\og, an Egyptian reed, the 
Papyrus, of the rind of which paper was made. Herodotus, lib. v. 
c. 58. p. 400. edit. Wesseling, 1763." The Bible is by the Jews 
called Mikra, Lecture : so the Koran means the reading. 

2 Testament signifies covenant, agreeably to the import of the 
Hebrew word Berith. Hieronymus in Malach. cap. ii. ver. 5. torn, 
iii. p. 1817. edit. Paris, 1704. 

3 Exod. xix. 6. xxxiii. 16. Levit. xx. 24. 26. Psalm cxlvii. 
19. Rom. iii. 2. ix. 4. 



Z INTRODUCTION. 

to impart such prophecies and instructions as were 
instrumental to the designs of his providence. As 
these scriptures were produced, they were admitted 
into the sacred volume, which by gradual accumulation, 
at length increased to its present size. These being 
delivered to the Hebrews, in their own language 4 , with 
every mark that could characterize divine revelations, 
were received with reverence, as inspired by the Holy 
Spirit, and preserved with the most anxious care and 
attention. Such only were accepted, as proceeded 
from persons unquestionably invested with the pro- 
phetic character 5 , or evidently authorized by a divine 
commission, who acted under the sanction of public 
appointment and miraculous support. The books 
which contained the precepts of the prophets, contained 
also the proofs of their inspiration, and the testimonies 
to their veracity. By recording contemporary events, 
the writers appealed to well-known evidence of their 
authority, of their impartiality, and of their adherence 
to truth ; and every succeeding prophet confirmed the 
character of his predecessor, by relating the accomplish- 
ment of prophecy in the history of his own period, or 
bore testimony to his pretensions, by repeating and ex- 
plaining his predictions. 

To the writings of these inspired persons, other pro- 
ductions were afterwards annexed, on account of their 
valuable contents, and instructive tendency, though 

4 The Hebrew language, if not the first language of man, seems 
at least to have higher pretensions to antiquity than any other. 
The books of the Old. Testament, are the only writings now extant 
in pure Hebrew. 

5 Josephus cont. Apion. lib. i. § 7. vol. ii. p. 1333. edit. Hudson, 
1720. 



INTRODUCTION. 6 

their claims to inspiration have been justly rejected. 
Such only as were undeniably dictated by the Spirit of 
God, were considered by the Jews as canonical 6 , and 
such only are received by us as affording a rule of faith 
and doctrine. The contents of the first division of the 
Bible are, therefore, distinguished into two classes. 
The first containing the books of acknowledged inspi- 
ration ; the second comprising those which are entitled 
Apocryphal, as being of dubious or suspected character 
and authority. The latter will be spoken of in a 
proper place, since in the present preliminary disser- 
tation, it is purposed to treat of such only as are 
canonical, and to trace a short sketch of their history 
in a general outline ; a particular account of each 
individual book being reserved for a separate chapter. 

Though the books of the Old Testament are not 
always chronologically arranged according to the order 
in which they were written, yet the Pentateuch was 
probably the first of those productions which are con- 
tained in the inspired volume. 

These five books, written by the hand of Moses, and 
consequently free from error, were secured as a sacred 
deposit in the tabernacle, where the ark of the cove- 
nant was placed 7 ; and were kept there, as well during 
the journey through the wilderness, as for some time 



6 liavwv, Canon, may be interpreted, a rule or defined list ; see 
Athanasii Opera, torn. ii. p. 55. edit. Paris, 1627. Athanasius 
styles the Sacred Books, " wpicrfiiva teal KEKavovicriiiva" See also 
Hieronymus adv. Rufinum, torn. iv. lib. iii. p. 444. edit. Paris, 
1706. St. Jerom speaks of the Sacred Books of Scripture as de- 
livered by the Apostles " ad plenissimum fidei instrumentum Eccle- 
siis Christi." 

7 Deut. xxxi. 26. 

b2 



4 INTRODUCTION. 

after at Jerusalem. To the same sanctuary were 
consigned, as they were successively produced, all those 
historical 8 and prophetical books, which were written 
from the time of Joshua, to that of David, including 
their own works ; during which period a series of 
prophets flourished in regular succession. Solomon 
having afterwards erected a temple to the honour of 
God 9 , appointed that in future the sacred books should 
be deposited in this holy receptacle, and enriched the 
collection by the inspired productions of his own pen. 
After him a line of illustrious prophets continued to 
denounce vengeance against the disobedience of the 
Hebrew nation, and to predict the calamities which 
that disobedience must inevitably produce. Jonah, 
Amos, Isaiah, Hosea, Joel, Micah, Nahum, Zephaniah, 
Jeremiah, Habakkuk, and Obadiah, successively flour- 
ished before the destruction of the temple, and con- 
tributed, by their unerring predictions, to demonstrate 
the attributes and designs of Providence, and to enlarge 
the volume of inspired wisdom by invaluable additions. 
About 420 ] years after its foundation, the temple 
being rifled and burnt by Nebuchadnezzar, the original 
manuscripts of the law and of the prophetical writings, 
must have been removed ; and were possibly carried to 
Babylon, except indeed we suppose, that the part of 

8 The books do not stand in the order in which they were written ; 
they were perhaps not arranged at first according to dates, or they 
might have been accidentally transposed in the manuscript rolls : 
in different versions, they are differently placed. Dupin, Disserta- 
tion Preliminaire. 

The Temple was dedicated about a.m. 3000. 

1 Josephus says 470, others 428. Usher 424 years. It was 
destroyed about 585 years before Christ. Antiq. lib. x. ch. viii. 
p. 449. 



INTRODUCTION. 

the Hebrew nation which remained at Jerusalem, 
obtained permission, or found means to retain them 2 . 
Those Hebrews who were dispersed in the captivity, 
probably used such copies as had been previously dis- 
tributed ; though Daniel, who refers to the law 3 , might 
by his interest with the Babylonish kings, have pro- 
cured access to the original, if we suppose it to have 
been transferred to Babylon. Within the seventy 
years, during which the Jews were detained in captivity, 
were composed the affecting lamentations of Jeremiah, 
the consolatory prophecies of Ezekiel, and the history 
and prophecies of Daniel. 

On the accession of Cyrus to the throne of Persia, 
the Jews being released from their captivity, returned 
to Jerusalem about a.m. 3468, having doubtless pro- 
cured or recovered the original books of the law and 
of the prophets, with a design to place them in the 
temple, which after much opposition from the Samari- 
tans, they rebuilt in about twenty years, being encou- 
raged to persevere in this pious work, by the exhorta- 
tions of Haggai and Zechariah : they also restored the 
divine worship according to the law. About fifty 
years after the temple was rebuilt, Ezra, who since the 
return from Babylon, had been engaged in restoring 
the Jewish Church, is related by tradition to have 
made, in conjunction with the great synagogue, a 
collection of the sacred writings 4 ; and being assisted 

2 In the account of the things carried to Babylon, no mention is 
made of the sacred books. 2 Kings xxv. 2 Chron. xxxvi. Jerem. liii. 

3 Dan. ix. 11. 13. See also Ezra vii. 14. and Jerem. xvii. 19 — 
21. xxxii. 22, 23. 

4 Nehem. viii. 1. 3. 9. Josephns cont. Apion. lib. i. sect. viii. 
p. 1333. Tract. Megil. in Gemar, cap. iii. Hieronymus, torn. iii. 



6 INTRODUCTION. 

by the Holy Spirit, he was enabled to discriminate 
what was authentic and divine, and to reject such parts 
as rested but on false pretensions ; this collection was, 
therefore, free from error, and rescued from all acci- 
dental corruptions. It has been maintained, indeed, 
that as a long residence in Chaldea, during which the 
Jews were dispersed and separated from each other, 
had so far precluded the use of the Hebrew letters, 
that they were almost forgotten and superseded by 
those of Chaldea, Ezra, partly in compliance with 
custom, and partly to differ from the Samaritans, 
(which obnoxious sect employed the old Hebrew 
letters), substituted the Chaldean or square letters, 
which we now call the Hebrew, for those which pre- 
vailed previously to the captivity 5 , as we changed our 
old black letter for the Roman characters. There 
have, indeed, been some disputes on this subject, but 
this opinion seems to be the best supported 6 . 

p. 342. edit. Antverp. 1678. Hilarius, Prolog, in Lib. Psalmo- 
rum, p. 4. edit. Paris, 1693. Augustinus de Mirabilibus Sacrae 
Scripturae, torn. iii. lib. ii. cap. 33. edit. Paris, 1689. Buxtorf 
Tiberius sive Commentarius Masorethicus, cap. xi. p. 26. edit. 
Basil, 1620. Theodor. Praef. in Psalm, p. 396. edit. Sirraondi 
Lutetian Parisiorum, 1642. Huetii Demonstratio Evangelica, Propos. 
4. cap. 9. p. 139 ; see also p. 261, 262, &c. edit. Paris, 1679. 
Prideaux's Connection, part i. book v. Dupin, Dissert. Prelim. 

5 Some assert also, that Ezra introduced the points or characters 
which serve to mark the Hebrew vowels ; others maintain, that 
these are as ancient as the language ; and a third class, that they 
were invented by the doctors of the school at Tiberias, generally 
called the Masorites, about 500 years after Christ, or as some say 
later. The Masorites seem to have been a succession of critics, 
professing a traditionary science of reading the Scriptures, as the 
Cabalists did of interpreting them. 

6 This account is founded on a Jewish tradition generally re- 

1 



INTRODUCTION. 7 

To this genuine collection of Ezra, were afterwards 
annexed his own sacred writings, as well as those of 
Nehemiah and of Malachi. These were probably 
inserted into the canon by Simon the Just, who pre- 
sided over the great synagogue 7 , and by this addition 
was completed the canon of the Old Testament : for, 
from Malachi, no prophet arose till the time of John 
the Baptist, who, as it were, connected the two 
covenants, and of whom Malachi prophesied, that he 
should precede the great day of the Lord 8 . 

This canon of the Old Testament was, by the Jews, 
computed to contain twenty-two books 9 , a number 
analogous to that of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, 
and corresponding with the catalogue of those which 
are received by our Church as canonical. With the 
Jews, however, Judges and Ruth were reckoned but 

ceived, and is related on the testimonies of Eusebius and St. Jerom ; 
but those who maintain that the square were the ancient Hebrew 
letters, have attempted to invalidate these authorities. The canon, 
however, was certainly composed about the time of Ezra, if not by 
himself. Vid. Euseb. Chron. ad a.m. 4740. Hieron. Praef. ad 
2 Reg. Com. in Ezekiel, in Prol. Gal. et Sixt. Senens. lib. ii. 
p. 59. edit. Colonise. Morini, Exercit. Eccles. in Pentateuchum 
Samaritanum, lib. ii. p. 98. edit. Paris, 1631. Also Scaliger, 
Bochart, Casaubon, Vossius, Grotius, Walton, and Capellus. 

7 The great synagogue is a term applied by the Jews to a suc- 
cession of Elders, supposed to have amounted to one hundred and 
twenty, who had the government of the Jewish Church after the 
Captivity. They are said to have superintended and closed the 
canon of the Scriptures. See Prideaux's Connection, An. 291, 
part ii. book i. 

8 Malach. iv. 5. 

9 Joseph. Antiq. Jud. lib. i. c. xi. sect. 5. p. 483—5. cont. 
Apion. lib. i. sect. 8. vol. ii. p. 1333. Sixt. Senens. lib. i. and ii. 
Epiphanius, &c. 



8 INTRODUCTION, 

as one book ; as likewise the two books of Samuel, 
those of Kings and of Chronicles were respectively 
united into single books ; Ezra and Nehemiah were 
also joined together, as the prophecies and lamentation 
of Jeremiah were taken under one head ; so that if we 
consider the twelve minor prophets as they were com- 
prehended in the Jewish canon, as one book, the 
number of the books will be exactly twenty-two. If 
the Prophets wrote any other books, they are now lost ; 
but as no more were admitted into the canon, we have 
reason to suppose, that no more were inspired, though 
many other books are mentioned and referred to in the 
Scriptures, which having no pretensions to inspiration, 
were never received into the sacred list ] . These 
twenty-two books have an unquestionable title to be 
considered as the genuine productions of those authors, 
to whom they are severally assigned. They contain 
prophecies and every other intrinsic proof of their 
divine origin ; they were received as authentic by the 

1 Orig. Horn. i. in Cant. August, de Civit. Dei, lib. xviii. 
cap. xxxviii. quest. 42. in Numb. It has been said, likewise, that 
some passages are cited by the Evangelists, as from the prophetic 
writings, which are not extant in them, as in Matt. ii. 23 ; but St. 
Matthew might here allude to Judges xiii. 5, or to Isaiah xi. 1, 
where, according to St. Jerom, " A branch shall go out of his root" 
might be translated, " A Nazarite shall grow from his root," or lie 
might refer to the prophetic accounts in general, which had foretold, 
that Christ should be consecrated to God as all the Nazarites were. 
The Evangelists usually cite more according to the sense than to 
the words, and they sometimes perhaps allude to well-known 
traditional prophecies, " to that which was spoken by the prophets." 
See other instances in Eph. v. 14. 2 Tim. iii. 8. James iv. 5. 
Jude 14, 15 ; which refer to passages not now extant, or to tradi- 
tional relation. Hieron. de Opt. Gen. Interpr. vol. i. p. 122. 



INTRODUCTION. V 

Hebrews, and pronounced to be inspired oracles by 
the Evangelical writers, who cite them without any 
intimation of defect or corruption. There was not, 
indeed, any period at which, if fabricated, they could 
have been imposed upon the Jews as the works of the 
authors whose names they severally bear. They were, 
likewise, considered as exclusively canonical in the 
Christian Church, during the four first centuries, after 
which, some provincial councils attempted to increase 
the number by some apocryphal books, which, however, 
they annexed only as of secondary authority, till the 
council of Trent pronounced them to be equally infalli- 
ble in doctrine and truth 2 . 

The Jews divided the sacred books into three classes 3 . 
The first, which they called the law, contained, as was 
before observed, the fi\e books of Moses. The second 
originally included thirteen books, which they con- 
sidered as the works of the prophets. The third com- 
prised four books, called by the Jews Chetubim, and 
by the Greeks, Hagiographa; these are conceived to 
have been the Psalms, and the three books of Solomon 4 . 
The Scriptures were so divided in the time of Josephus 5 , 
probably without any respect to superiority of inspira- 
tion, but for distinction, and commodious arrangement. 
From the time of St. Jerom, the second class has been 
deprived of some books 6 which have been thrown into 
the third class, and the Hebrew doctors have invented 

2 Preface to the Apocryphal Books. 

3 Prolog, to Ecclus. Philo de Vita Contemp. p. 691. 

4 Sixt. Senen. Bibliotheca Sancta, lib. ii. p. 47. edit. Colon, 
and Vitrin. Observat. Sac. lib. vi. cap. vi. p. .'313. 

5 Joseph, cont. Apion, lib. i. § 8. p. 1333. 

Job, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, 2 Books of Chronicles. 



10 INTRODUCTION. 

many fanciful refinements concerning the nature and 
degrees of inspiration, which are to be ascribed to the 
books of each class respectively. They assign an higher 
authority to the books of the two first divisions, though 
they attribute also the writings included in the third 
class to the suggestion of the sacred Spirit 7 . It would 
be idle to trouble the reader with the discussion of 
these and such like rabbinical conceits,' and it may be 
sufficient here to remark upon this subject, that though 
the Scripture mentions different modes by which God 
communicated his instructions to the prophets, and 
particularly attributes a superior degree of eminence to 
Moses, yet that these differences, and this distinction, 
however they may affect the dignity of the minister 
employed, cannot be supposed to increase or to lessen 
the certainty of the things imparted. Whatever God 
condescended to communicate to mankind by his ser- 
vants must be equally infallible and true 8 , whether 
derived from immediate converse with him, from an 
external voice, or from dreams or visions, or lastly from 
the internal and enlightening influence of the Holy 
Spirit. The mode of communication, where the agency 
of Providence is established, can in no respect exalt or 
depreciate the intrinsic character of the thing revealed. 
Other divisions, besides that already mentioned, were 
afterwards adopted, and the order of the books was 
sometimes changed, as design or accident might pro- 
duce a transposition; but no addition or diminution 



7 Maimon. Mor. Nevoch, c. xxxv. p. 290. edit. Buxtorf, 1629 ; 
and Smith on Prophecy, also Misn. Jud. c. iii. n. 5. Bava Bathra, 
cap. i. 

8 2 Tim. iii. 16. 2 Pet. i. 19. 21. 



INTRODUCTION. 1 1 

whatever was permitted to be made among the Jews 9 ; 
to them were committed the oracles of God, and they 
were faithful guardians ' ; " never any man," says Jose- 
phus, " hath dared to add to, or to diminish from, or to 
alter aught in them 2 ; though other books were written, 
which deserved not the same credit, because there was 
no certain succession of prophets, from the time of Ar- 
taxerxes ; and- it was a maxim, ingrafted into the Jews 
in their youth, to esteem these writings as the oracles 
of God, and remaining constant in their veneration, 
willingly to die for them if necessary." Thus were 
they consigned to the reverent acceptance of posterity, 
and consecrated by the approbation and testimony of 
Christ himself, who stamped as authentic, and as in- 
fallibly to be accomplished, the law of Moses, the 
prophets, and the Psalms 3 (the Psalms, comprehend- 
ing under that title, the Hagiographa) 4 ; the apostles 
likewise confirmed the same 5 . 

Besides the great temple at Jerusalem, many syna- 
gogues were founded after the return from the capti- 

9 Hieron. Prasf. in Lib. Reg. Bava Bathra, cap. i. Maimon. in 
Tad. Chan. p. 2. f. 95. and R. Gedalias in Scalsch hakkab. f. 67. 

1 Deut. xxix. 29. 

2 Deut. iv. 2. and Joseph, cont. Apion. lib. i. § 8. Euseb. 
Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. cap. ix. x. p. 84-5. Praep. Evangel, lib. viii. 
p. 84-5. edit. Paris, 1659. 

3 Matt. v. 17, 18. xxi. 42. xxii. 29. xxvi. 54. Luke xvi. 
16. xxiv. 27. 44. John i. 45. v. 39. 

4 Philo, de Vit. Contemp. lib. vi. Joseph, contra Apion. lib. i. 
§ 8. Hieron. in Prasf. in Dan. Opera, torn. iii. p. 1071. edit. 
Paris, 1704. Epiphan. Homil. xxix. cap. 7. 

5 Acts iii. 18. xviii. 28. xxiv. 14. xxvi. 22. 27. xxviii. 23. 
xxix. 7. Rom. iii. 2. xv. 4. Heb. i. 1. 2 Tim. iii. 16. 1 Pet. ii. 6. 
2 Pet. i. 19. Acts viii. 32. Rom. iv. 3. ix. 17. x. 4. 



1 2 INTRODUCTION. 

vity, and furnished by the industry of the rulers of the 
church with copies of this authentic collection of the 
Scriptures, so that though Antiochus Epiphanes, in the 
persecution which he carried on against the religion of 
the Jews, tore in pieces and afterwards burnt probably 
the sacred original of Ezra, or at least such copies as 
he could procure 6 ; still, as faithful manuscripts existed 
in all parts, the malevolence of his intention was baffled 
by God's providence ; and Judas Maccabeus, when he 
had recovered the city and purified the temple, pro- 
cured for it a perfect and entire collection of the Scrip- 
tures, or perhaps deposited therein that which had 
belonged to his father Mattathias 7 , and doubtless sup- 
plied such synagogues with fresh copies as had been 
plundered during the persecution. Many of these, 
however, must have perished with the synagogues that 
were destroyed by the armies of Vespasian and Titus, 
though the religious veneration of the Jews for their 
Scriptures rescued every copy that could be saved from 
the general destruction which overwhelmed their coun- 
try, as the Scriptures afforded them considerable con- 
solation in all their afflictions. Josephus himself, we 
are informed, obtained a copy from Titus 8 , when the 
other Jewish books were destroyed, and the authentic 
volume, which till this final demolition had been depo- 
sited in the temple, was carried in triumph to Rome, 
and placed with the purple veils in the temple of 



6 1 Mac. i. 57. Joseph. Antiq. lib. xii. cap. v. p. 553. De 
Bell. Jud. lib. vii. c. iii. p. 1299. edit. Hudson, 1720. Sulpit. 
Sev. Hist. Sac. lib. ii. 

7 1 Mac. ii. 48. iii. 48. xii. 9. 2 Mac. ii. 14. viii. 23. xv. 9. 

8 Joseph. Vit. sect. 75. p. 944-5. edit. Hud. 



INTRODUCTION. 13 

Peace 9 , so that henceforth no copy of the Hebrew 
Scriptures was preserved from injury by the vigilance 
of public guardians, except those transcripts which 
were kept in the scattered synagogues of foreign and 
dispersed Jews l . It is from this time, probably, that 
errors and corruptions crept into the sacred text. As 
there was no longer any established standard of cor- 
rectness by which the fidelity of different copies could 
be tried, faults and mistakes were insensibly introduced ; 
the carelessness of transcribers occasioned accidental 
omissions : marginal annotations 2 were adopted into 
the text ; and the resemblances between different 
Hebrew letters, of which many are remarkably similar 

9 De Bell. Jud. lib. vii. cap. v. p. 1306. 

1 The Jewish synagogues in all countries were numerous: wherever 
the apostles preached they found them ; they were established by 
the direction of the rabbins in every place where there were ten per- 
sons of full age and free condition. Vid. Megill. cap. i. sec. 3. 
Maimon. in Tephill. Lightfoot's Harmony of the New Testament, 
sect. 17- p. 3 5. and sect. 55. p. 249. edit. Lond. 1682. Anno 
Christi, 32. Exercit. in Matt, xviii. 

2 The Hebrew Bibles have marginal readings, called keri, which 
signifies, that which is read, (the text is called cetib, that which is 
written) : these marginal variations are by some ascribed to Ezra, 
but as they are found in his books, as well as in those which are 
inserted in the Canon after his time, they seem to be conjectural 
emendations of corrupted passages by later writers, probably by the 
great synagogue, or the Masorites ; these words amounted to about 
1000, and all, except a very few, have been found in the text of dif- 
ferent manuscripts. Vide Kennicott's Dissertation on the printed 
Hebrew Text of the Old Testament. Vitringa, Observationes 
Sacrae, vol. ii. lib. iii. cap. 19. p. 260. edit. Franequerse, 1691. 
J. Buxtorfii tractat. de punctorum vocalium et accentuum in lib. v. 
Test. Hebraeorum origine et antiquitate et auctoritate, pars i. cap. v. 

p. 52. See also Capellus, Morinus, &c. 



14 INTRODUCTION. 

in form, contributed, with other circumstances too 
numerous to be here specified, to produce alterations 
and imperfections in the different copies, which, from 
the difficulty of collating manuscripts for correction, 
were necessarily perpetuated. 

Hence originated those various readings, and occa- 
sional differences which we find in the several manu- 
scripts of the Hebrew Bible, and these differences must 
have considerably multiplied, since it was enacted by a 
constitution of the elders, that every man should pos- 
sess a private copy of the Scriptures. Happily, how- 
ever, these are seldom important in their nature or 
consequences, as appears from a collation of those 
various copies which pious and munificent men have 
industriously collected ; and it should indeed seem to 
be an especial effect of some peculiar providence, that 
those passages which relate to faith and doctrine, those 
which describe the attributes and perfections of God, 
and the divine and human nature of the Messiah, or 
which treat concerning our obligations and duty, are 
in general preserved uniform and uncorrupted. Secure 
in their integrity from the consistent testimonies of 
every copy, we may confidently rely on the instructions 
which they reveal, and stedfastly adhere to the princi- 
ples which they inculcate. 

There could not, indeed, be any temptation for the 
Jews designedly to corrupt the doctrines of their Scrip- 
tures, before the appearance of the Messiah ; during 
the greater part of which time they were watched over 
by the prophets, and by different sects ; and had such a 
design prevailed since the birth of Christ, the Jews 
would not have overlooked those passages which so 



INTRODUCTION. 1 5 

strongly authenticate our Saviour's pretensions 3 ; in- 
deed such a design must then have been fruitless, since 
it could not be general, and would have been liable 
to immediate detection ; for as Christianity was built 
on the foundation of the Old Testament and appealed 
to the Hebrew Scriptures for its support, wherever the 
Gospel was received, the law and the prophets were 
called into notice and esteem, and preserved with as 
much care and vigilance as prevailed among the Jews ; 
and when the Christian converts were commanded 
under the Dioclesian persecution to surrender them, 
they stigmatized those who complied with the requisi- 
tion as betrayers 4 . 

Copies then must have multiplied by increasing 
veneration, and however trivial inaccuracies might 
proportionably prevail, concerted alteration must have 
become more impracticable. Thus every circumstance 
seems to have conspired to preserve the integrity of 
the Scriptures free from a suspicion of intended corrup- 
tion, or of change in any essential point. The jealous 

3 When the Hebrew text differs from the Greek, it is sometimes 
more unfavourable to the Jewish opinions, as in Psalm ii. 12. The 
passage in the 16th verse of the xxiid Psalm, which has been pro- 
duced as a concerted alteration, is certainly, if really altered, only 
corrupted by accident, for the copies which differing from the Sep- 
tuagint, instead of )12, caru, " they pierced " my hands and feet, 
read " HfcO, caari," as a lion " they rended my hands and my 
feet," can hardly be conceived to have been intentionally changed to 
a stronger though figurative representation of the wounds inflicted 
at the crucifixion ; nor is it probable that two verses should have 
been designedly omitted from chap. xv. of Joshua, merely because 
they describe likewise in the Septuagint, that Bethlehem was in the 
territory of Judah, a circumstance otherwise well known. 

* Traditores. 



16 INTRODUCTION. 

care with which they were preserved in the tabernacle, 
and in the temple, being not more calculated to secure 
their purity, than that reverence which afterwards dis- 
played itself in the dispersed synagogues, and in the 
churches consecrated to the Christian faith ; and hence 
we find in the Scriptures only such corruptions as 
might have been accidentally produced 5 . The most 
ancient Hebrew manuscripts which modern inquiry has 
ever been able to procure, do not usually seem to be 
above 600 or 700 years old, and none exceed the age 
of 900. In proportion to their antiquity, they are 
found to be more free from corruptions 6 , and for the 
reason before assigned, that these corruptions are but 
the natural effects of frequent transcription, the conse- 
quence of careless haste, or casual inadvertency. In 
important points, almost all correspond, or are easily 
reconciled with each other, though collected at differ- 
ent times, and in different places. 

Not only, however, is the purity of the sacred volume 
established by the general coincidence of the Hebrew 
copies, but it is still farther proved, beyond a possibility 
of suspicion, by the agreement which subsists between 
the Hebrew and the Samaritan Pentateuch 7 , and by 

5 See Morinus, Capellus, Grotius, and Kennicott's Bible. The pre- 
cepts of Scripture are generally repeated in the different Books, so 
that errors in these must be immediately detected ; the mistakes are 
chiefly in proper names, and numbers ; in the latter often occasioned 
by the use of letters for numbers. See Irenaeus, Beza, &c. 

6 The best are those copied by the Jews of Spain : those by the 
Jews of Germany are less correct. 

7 The Samaritans, whether the descendants of the ten tribes, who 
seceded under the reign of Rehoboam, or of the colony, said to have 
been brought from Cuthah, or other parts of Assyria, (2 Kings xvii. 
24.) professed the Hebrew religion, and had a Temple, a Priest, and 



INTRODUCTION. 1 7 

the correspondence preserved in the Septuagint version 
of the Old Testament (as collected by Ezra), with the 
original Hebrew. 

The Samaritan Pentateuch is a copy of the Hebrew 
original, and according to the most general, and best 
supported opinion, written in the old Hebrew or Phoe- 
nician characters 8 . Though this Samaritan copy has 
some variations, transpositions, and additions, which 
render it different in some respects from the Hebrew 
manuscripts, yet these are never of such a nature as to 
impeach the integrity of the Scripture doctrine, or to 
lessen our confidence in the purity of the Hebrew 

a Pentateuch. When that Pentateuch was copied, is uncertain ; 
some say at the time of the first revolt ; others contend that it was 
copied from Ezra's collection, as it contains some interpolations 
ascribed to him. As the Samaritans rejected the regulations estab- 
lished by Joshua, and also the authority of the Hebrew priesthood, 
they disregarded not only the Books which were written subse- 
quently to the revolt of the ten tribes, and which were addressed 
more particularly to the kingdom of Judah, but likewise some that 
were written previously to the division of the two kingdoms, as the 
Books of Joshua, of Samuel, of David, and of Solomon. There is 
still a remnant of the Samaritans, who have their high priest, said 
to be of the race of Aaron, and who offer up their sacrifice upon 
Mount Gerizim to this day. The chief part of this sect reside at 
Sichem, which was afterwards called Flavia Neapolis, and now 
Naplousa. They have synagogues in other parts of Palestine, and 
are numerous in Syria and Egypt, and some of them are dispersed 
in the North of Europe, Vid. Joseph. Ant. lib. vii. cap. 3. p. 
1299. Prid. Con. part i. book vi. Benjamin Tudela Itinerarium, 
p. 15. Lug. Bat. Gassen. in Vita Piereskii, vol. v. s. 1. p. 255 ; 
and Hottinger Promptuarium, sive Bibliotheca Orientalis et Catalo- 
gus omnium praeceptorum legis Mosaicae. Edit. Basil. Scalig. de 
Emend. Temp. Maundrell's Journey, page 80. 

8 Scaliger, Vossius, Capellus, Univer. Hist, book i. ch. vii. Prid. 
Con. part i. book vi. 

C 



18 INTRODUCTION. 

copies ; for if we except some chronological variations, 
which are perhaps not utterly irreconeileable, and a 
designed alteration discovered in the Samaritan Pen- 
tateuch, which was manifestly inserted to support an 
opinion, that Mount Gerizim 9 was the place which God 
had chosen for his temple, we shall find that the varia- 
tions of this copy are not more than might reasonably 
be expected from frequent transcriptions during a pe- 
riod of 2000 years I ; for so long a time had elapsed 
from the apostacy of Manasseh 2 , to the introduction of 
this copy into Europe. 

This general agreement is the more remarkable, and 

9 Deut. xxvii. 4. They have put Gerizim instead of Ebal into 
this verse. 

1 The fathers are supposed to have had a Greek translation of the 
Samaritan Pentateuch, but from the sixth to the seventeenth cen- 
tury, no mention is made of the Samaritan Pentateuch ; Scaliger 
first lamented that no one had procured a copy of the original. In 
consequence of this hint, the learned Usher obtained two or three 
copies of it by means of Sir Thomas Davis, then at Aleppo ; and 
not long after, Sancius Harley, a priest of the Oratory of Paris, 
brought home another, which he deposited in the library of his order 
at Paris, from which copy Morinus published it in the Paris Poly- 
glot. Vid. Prid. Con. part i. book vi. The Samaritans have like- 
wise a translation of this Pentateuch into the language vulgarly 
spoken among them, their language being now so corrupted by 
foreign innovations, as to be very different from the original Sama- 
ritan. This translation is published in the Paris and London Poly- 
glots, and is so literal, that Morinus and Walton thought that one 
version would serve for both, only noting the variations. Vid. 
Prid. Con. part ii. lib. i. 

2 The son-in-law of Sanballat, who was compelled by Nehemiah 
to quit Jerusalem, and who carried away a copy of the law to Sama- 
ria. He is called Manasses by Josephus. Vid. Nehem. xiii. 28. 
Joseph. Antiq. lib. xi. cap. 8. p. 501 ; and lib. xii. cap. 4. 
p. .523. 



INTRODUCTION. 19 

exhibits the stronger evidence in support of the purity 
of the Hebrew text, since the Samaritan copy was 
preserved by those who from their first separation 
entertained the greatest hostility against the Jews, but 
who do not appear to have charged them with corrupt- 
ing the sacred text. 

This common correspondence affords, therefore, a 
striking proof of the general integrity of the different 
copies, and we shall be still farther convinced, that 
the sacred volume has preserved its genuine purity 
in every important point, if we consider how little 
the Septuagint version of the Scriptures differs from 
the Hebrew copies, notwithstanding the many ages 
that have elapsed since the time of Ptolemy Phi- 
ladelphus, king of Egypt, who was the second 
monarch of the Macedonian race, about 280 years 
before Christ, and under whose reign this transla- 
tion was made into Greek. It has been maintained, 
indeed, by some learned men, that only the Penta- 
teuch was translated at first, and that the other books 3 
were rendered into Greek successively at different 
times; however this may have been, they were all 
translated long before the birth of Christ 4 . This ver- 

3 Euseb. Demonst. Evang. lib. iii. cap. ult. Hodius de Bibl. 
Text. Origin. 1. 2. c. 7 — 10. p. 159—200. Edit. Oxon. 1705. 

4 The Septuagint was probably the first entire version of the 
Scriptures made into the Greek, though there are authorities which 
state that some part of them, particularly the law and the prophets, 
were translated into that language before the time of Alexander's 
expedition. Vid. August, de Civit. Dei, lib. xviii. cap. 42 and 43. 
Huet. Demonstrat. Evang. Prop. iv. cap. xii. sect. 3. p. 132. Edit. 
Paris, 1679. The account of the Septuagint translation, attributed 
to Aristseas, is loaded with so many fabulous circumstances, that it 

c 2 



20 INTRODUCTION. 

sion has not many important variations from the 
Hebrew, except in some chronological accounts, occa- 
sioned probably by the carelessness of the copyists 5 . 
It was used in all those countries where Alexander 
had established the Grecian language, and seems to 
have been admitted into the Jewish synagogues in 
Judaea, and even at Jerusalem, where that language 
prevailed ; and the Septuagint was certainly most used 
there in the time of our Saviour, for the citations in 
the New Testament from the Old, seem most fre- 
quently to have been made according to that version 6 . 

has been thought entitled to but little credit. It is, however, re- 
peated by Philo, Josephus, and other writers. Vid. Aristseas, Hist. 
70 Interp. Philo in Vit. Mos. lib. ii. p. 139. Edit. Mangey, 1742. 
Joseph. Antiq. lib. xii. cap. 2. Irenae. lib. iii. cap. 25. The truth 
seems to be, that a version was begun in the reign of Ptolemy, and 
perhaps finished at different times for the use of the Alexandrine 
Jews, but before the time that the Book of Ecclesiasticus was writ- 
ten, and consequently at least two centuries before Christ. Vid. 
Prolog, to Ecclus. Hodius de Bibl. Text, lib.ii. cap. viii — x. p. 123. 
178. 217. Edit. Oxon. 1705. Comp. 2 Sam. xxii. with Psalm 
xviii. Other translations into Greek were afterwards made by 
Aquila, Theodotion, and Symmachus. Vid. Clem. Alex. Strom. 
lib. i. cap. 22. p. 409. Edit. Potter, 1715. Euseb. Prsep. Evang. 
c. vi. Prid. Con. part ii. book i. Irenaeus, lib. iii. contra Haeres. 
cap. xxv. p. 254. Edit. Oxon. 1702. 

5 In the vth and xith ch. of Genesis, every Patriarch is said to 
have lived 100 years longer, according to the Septuagint, than in the 
Hebrew, except Jared and Methusalem. 

6 St. Jerom was of opinion, that the evangelical writers cited from 
the Septuagint when it did not differ from the Hebrew, but that 
they had recourse to the original, when there was any difference ; 
but the instances which he has produced, do not prove that they re- 
ferred to the Hebrew ; and the Evangelists sometimes quote from 
the Septuagint when it differs from the Hebrew, as in Rom. x. 18, 



INTRODUCTION. 2 1 

At that period, then, it was considered an au- 
thentic copy of the inspired books, or it would not 
have received the sanction of our Saviour, and of 
his apostles ; and though since that time it has been 
rejected by the Jews on account of the estimation 
in which it was holden by the Christians, yet was it 
for the two first centuries exclusively used, and has 
ever since been regarded with great veneration by the 
Christian church, as a very faithful, though not a literal 
version. 

from Psalm xix. 4, and Romans xv. 12, from Isa. xi. 10, though 
our Lord himself seems to have cited from the Hebrew. In the 
time of Christ, the original and the translation probably agreed 
more exactly than they now do, as many corruptions must have been 
subsequent to that period : it is, therefore, in some instances uncer- 
tain whether the citations are made from the Hebrew or from the 
Septuagint, though they appear, indeed, to be made chiefly from the 
latter, excepting, perhaps, by St. Matthew, who, probably writing in 
Hebrew, might use the original. Vide Hieron. adv. Ruffln. and 
Mede's works. Dr. Brett imagines that our Saviour read out of a 
Targum when he read the lesson in the synagogue. Vide Luke iv. 
18, comp. with lsai. lxi. 1, and that he cited a paraphrase on the 
cross : vide Matt, xxvii. 46, for Sabacthani is found only in the 
Chaldaic tongue, and in the Hebrew it is Mniw, gnazabtani. Christ 
and the Apostles probably cited what was most known to the Jews, 
the sense being the same, whether from the Original, Version, or 
Paraphrase. The language spoken by the Jews in our Saviour's 
time, was the Hebrew mixed with the Chaldaic and Syriac, which 
dialects compose, likewise, the basis of the modern Hebrew. Greek, 
however, was generally understood. Hieron. Catal. Scriptor. Ec- 
clesiasticor. vol. iv. p. 102. Edit. Paris, 1706. Randolph's Pro- 
phecies, and other Texts compared with the Hebrew and Septua- 
gint. Brett's Dissertation on the ancient Version of the Bible. 
Blair's Lectures. Spearman's Letters to a Friend concerning the 
Septuagint : the learned author, after a careful investigation, main- 



22 INTRODUCTION. 

Thus does the general coincidence between the He- 
brew copies, the Samaritan Pentateuch, and the Sep- 
tuagint version of the Old Testament, demonstrate 
the unaltered integrity of the Scriptures in important 
points, as we now possess them, and this integrity is 
still farther confirmed by the conformity which sub- 
sists between those various translations of the Bible 
into different languages, which have been executed 
since the time of our Saviour 7 . It appears, there- 
fore, that from their first inspiration to the present 
day, the sacred writings have been dispersed into so 
many different hands, that no possible opportunity 
could be afforded for confederate corruptions, and every 
designed alteration must immediately have been de- 
tected. 

The first Hebrew Bibles were published towards the 
conclusion of the fifteenth century, by the Jews of 
Italy 8 . Many were afterwards published at Venice, 

tains, that out of 163 texts cited in the New Testament, there was 
a majority of 43 from the Septuagint. 

7 The general integrity of the text is likewise confirmed by the 
evidence of the Chaldee paraphrases, which are called targums or 
versions ; these were translations of the Old Testament from the 
Hebrew into Chaldee, for the benefit of those who had forgotten the 
Hebrew after the captivity ; vid. Nehem. viii. 8. The two most 
ancient and authentic are that of Onkelos on the law, and that of 
Jonathan on the Prophets ; these were probably made soon after the 
captivity, or at least before the time of Christ, but they are blended 
with more modern comments. The other targums are of much later 
date. The targums are printed in the second edition of the Hebrew 
Bible, published at Basil, by Buxtorf the Father, in 1610. 

8 The Hebrew Bible, according to Houbigant, (Proleg. p. 94. 
96,) was first printed by R. Jacob ben Chaim, but Kennicott says, 
that this was not published till 1528, and that, therefore, it was sub- 



INTRODUCTION. 23 

Antwerp, and Amsterdam, as well as in other places, 
which have their respective merits and defects; but 
perhaps, the most important edition, that, which does 
honour to our country, is the celebrated work of the 
late Dr. Kennicott, who, a few years since, published 
his Bible, containing the very accurate text of Vander 
Hooght, with the variations of near 700 different manu- 
scripts, collected at a great expense, and collated with 
great labour and care 9 , together with the variations 
of numberless Samaritan manuscripts, compared with 

sequent to that revised by Felix Pratensis, published at Venice, 
1517. There is still extant in Eton Library a vellum copy of the 
Chetubim, or Hagiographa, printed, according to Dr. Pellet's account, 
at Naples, in 1487, and probably designed as a second or third part 
to the edition of the Prophets, printed according to Le Long, at 
Soncino, in 1486. See Le Long and Wolfius, Bibliot. Heb. ii. 397. 
This was followed by many others. See Kennicott's Hist, of the 
Heb. Text, 6th period. That of Vander Hooght, published at 
Amsterdam in 1705, and that of Houbigant, published in 1753, are 
the most distinguished and correct. The first Bible that ever was 
printed was a Latin Bible, published at Mentz, about a. d. 1450 or 
1452. A copy of a second or third edition of this printed at Mentz 
in 1462, with metal types by John Faust, (whom some suppose to 
have been the first printer) and Peter Schoeffer, is in the king of 
France's library, and a first volume of this edition is in the Bodleian 
Library, together with a copy supposed to be of an earlier date ; and 
another first volume was brought to England in the Pinelli collection, 
together with a last volume of one which had the appearance of being 
still more ancient ; it had no date. There appear to have been two 
Bibles published before 1462, vid. Pinelli Catalogue. Michael 
Maittaire, Ann. Typogr. t. i. p. 272. Catalog. Historico-Critic. 
Biblioth. Instruct, vol. Theol. p. 32. Histoire de l'Academie 
Royale des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, vol. xiv. p. 238, edit. 
Paris, 1763, Amster. 1733. 

9 The learned M. de Rossi has since published the variations of 
many more which he collated. 



24 INTRODUCTION. 

the Samaritan text, as published in the London Poly- 
glot K 

From the earliest ages of the primitive church trans- 
lations have been made into various languages 2 ; but 
it would be foreign from the design of this Introduction 
to enter into a particular account of the different ver- 
sions that have been made, at different times, into other 
languages: we are concerned only with our English 
translation, of which it may be necessary to give some 
account, after we shall have taken a short view 
of the preceding versions, in the language of this 
country. 

It is possible that the first inhabitants of Britain* 
who are said to have been converted to Christianity, 
had at least some of the Scriptures in their own 
tongue 3 ; but the earliest translations, of which we 
have any account in our history, are those of the Saxon 
writers, who enabled their countrymen to read the 
Scriptures in their own language. It appears from 
writers contemporary with Aldelm or Althelm, that 
there was then extant a translation of the Scriptures, 
or of a part of them at least, in the vulgar tongue 4 ; 

1 The word Polyglot is derived from 7?o\vq much, and yXwrra 
a tongue ; it means a Bible with the texts of several languages ; 
there are Polyglots published in Spain, at Antwerp, at Paris, and 
London. 

2 Theod. ad Graec. Infid. serm. v. Euseb. Dem. Evan. lib. iii. 
c. ult. Usser. Hist. Dogm. de Script, et Sac. Vernac. cap. 8. p. 460. 
edit. Wharton, Lond. 1690, et Index. 

3 M. Parker de Antiq. Ecc. Brit. Test. Ush. de Primord. Eccles. 
Britan. 

4 The Saxon homilies exhort the people to read the Scrip- 
tures. Vid. also Aldelm. de Virginit. et Bede, lib. iii. cap. 5, ab 
an. 634. 



INTRODUCTION. 25 

and it is known that Aldelm, who was the first bishop 
of Sherborne, translated the Psalter into the Saxon 
tongue, about a. d. 706. Ingulphus 5 speaks of a 
Psalter of St. Guthlack, who was a contemporary of 
Aldelm, and the first Saxon anchorite, and who in- 
fluenced Ethelbald, king of Mercia, to found the mo- 
nastery of Croyland ; and this Psalter in the Saxon 
tongue, John Lambert, who was contemporary with 
Usher, professes to have seen 6 among the records be- 
longing to Croyland 7 . This was soon followed by the 
Latin and Saxon translations of the Psalter and Gospel, 
which indeed frequently appeared, especially upon any 
change in the language. 

The Psalter and the Gospel, or as some say, all 
the books of the Bible 8 , were translated into Anglo- 
Saxon towards the beginning of the eighth century, by 

5 Ingulf, cent. I. c. 83. Bibliotheca veterum Patrum, torn. viii. 
p. 1. Colon. Agrip. 1618. 

6 Lambert in Respons. ad art. 26. epis. 

7 There is also in the public library at Cambridge, a translation of 
the Psalms into Latin and English ; and another old Latin translation 
with an interlineary Saxon version was in the Cotton Library, in 
the same character with the charter of King Ethelbald, which is 
dated a.d. 736. Vid. Usser. Hist. Dogmat. p. 103. Usher in- 
forms us, that Mr. Robert Bowyer was in possession of a Saxon 
translation of the Evangelists, by Ecbert, (who is called also Ekfrid, 
Eadfrid, and Eckfrid, bishop of Lindisfarne,) who died a.d. 721. 
Vid. Usser. Hist. Dogm. c. 5. Ecbert wrote also a copy of the 
Evangelists in Latin, to which Aldred, a priest, added a Saxon 
interlineary translation, which is in the Cotton Library. Vid. Whar- 
ton, Anglia Sane, pars i. p. 695, edit. Lond. 1691. Fox, by the 
encouragement of Matthew Parker, published in 1571 a Saxon ver- 
sion of the Evangelists, made from the Vulgate, before it was revised 
by St. Jerom, of which the author is unknown. 

8 Fox, and Caius de Ant. Cantab, lib. i. 



26 INTRODUCTION. 

the venerable Bede, who is related to have finished the 
last chapter of the Gospel as he expired l . 

The whole Bible was translated into Anglo-Saxon 
by order of king Alfred. He undertook the version of 
the Psalms himself, but did not live to complete it. 
Another Anglo-Saxon version appears to have been 
made soon after 2 . 

Several books of the Old Testament were trans- 
lated into Anglo-Saxon by Elfred or Elfric, Abbot of 
Malmesbury, and afterwards, A. d. 995, Archbishop 
of Canterbury. The Pentateuch, Joshua, and Judges, 
of this translation were preserved in the Cotton Li- 
brary, and published at Oxford in 1699, by Edmund 
Thwaites 3 . 

One of the first attempts at a translation into the 
English language, as spoken after the Conquest, appears 
to have been made by Richard Rolle, an Hermit of 
Hampole in Yorkshire, who translated and wrote a 
glossary upon the Psalter, and a metrical paraphrase of 
the Book of Job. He died a.d. 1349. 

A complete translation of the whole Bible, including 
the apocryphal books, was soon afterwards performed 
by John Wickliff 4 . It was a literal version, made 

1 Fox says, that he translated the gospel of St. John a second 
time, but Cuthbert, his scholar, tells us, that he finished at John 
vi. 9. Vid. Bayle. 

2 This was published with a Latin interlineary text, by John 
Spelman, in 1640. Dr. Brett supposes this to have been Alfred's 
Psalter. There is another interlineary Psalter in the library at 
Lambeth, apparently of a later period. Spelman published with his 
Psalter, the various readings of four manuscripts. 

3 Le Long, Calmet, and Lewis's Hist, of Transl. of the Bible. 

4 Huss. Replicat. con. T. Stokes Arund. Constit. Lynwood's 
Glossary, &c. The New Testament of WicklifTs version sold for 

1 



INTRODUCTION. 27 

from the Latin, with the prologues of St. Jerom, to the 
books of the New Testament, and appeared between 
a.d. 1360 and 1380. The New Testament of this 
translation, which is still extant in many manuscripts, 
was published by Lewis in 1731. Some writers 
have conceived that an English translation was made 
before the time of WicklifF 5 , and there are copies 
at Oxford 6 , which Usher assigns to an earlier 
period ; but it is probable that these may be genuine 
or corrected copies of Wickliff's translation. Lewis 
is of opinion that John Trevisa, who is by some 
related to have made an entire English version of the 
Scriptures about 1387, did in fact only paint a few 
sentences on the chapel walls of Berkeley Castle, and 
intersperse a few verses in his writings 7 , with some 
variations from the received translation. It is, how- 
ever, highly probable, that others besides Wickliff un- 

four marks and forty pence, as appears from the register of W. Alne- 
wich, Bishop of Norwich, 1429, as quoted by Fox. Vid. James, 
Corrupt, of Fathers, p. 277. Fox's preface to Saxon Gospels, a.d. 
1571. 

5 Dr. James was of this opinion ; see Corrupt, of Fathers, p. 225. 
Bishop Bonner professes to have seen one translated above eighty 
years before that of Wickliff: so little, however, were the Scriptures 
used in the time of WicklifF, that some secular priests of Armagh, 
who were sent by Archbishop Fitzralph, (the translator of the Bible 
into Irish) to study divinity at Oxford, about a.d. 1357, were 
obliged to return, because they could no where find a Latin Bible. 
The clergy were then seldom able to read Latin. See Fox's Ex- 
tracts from Longland's Register. 

6 There is a copy of the Old Testament of this translation in the 
Bodleian Library, one at Queen's College, and one at Lambeth ; 
and of the New Testament, one in the Bodleian, and two at Cam- 
bridge, in Sydney and Magdalen Colleges. 

7 Lewis's Hist, of Translations. 



28 INTRODUCTION. 

dertook this important work, and translated at least 
some parts of the Scriptures. Hitherto translations 
were made only from the Italic version, or from that of 
St. Jerom. 

Great objections were, however, made to these and 
all translations, as promoting a too general, and pro- 
miscuous use of the Scriptures, which was conceived to 
be productive of evil consequences, and Wickliff's 
Bible, particularly as it was judged to be an un- 
faithful translation, was condemned to be burnt. In 
the time of Richard the Second, a bill was brought 
into Parliament, a.d. 1390, to prohibit the use of 
English Bibles. The bill, however, being strongly 
reprobated and opposed by John Duke of Lancaster 8 
was rejected ; but about a.d. 1408, Arundel, arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, decreed in a convocation of the 
Clergy at Oxford, that no unauthorised person should 
translate any text of Scripture into English, or any 
other language, by way of books, and that no transla- 
tion made either in, or since Wickliff's time, should be 
read, till approved by the bishop of the diocese, or in a 
provincial council. This decree was enforced by great 
persecutions, and as about the same time Pope Alex- 
ander the fifth condemned all translations into the 
vulgar tongue, they were, as much as it was possible, 
suppressed till the Reformation. 

It appears indeed, from our bishops' registers, that 
in consequence of Arundel's commission, several per- 

8 Usher, Parker, Linwood, and Collier. The duke is related to 
have said, " We will not be the dregs of all, seeing other nations 
have the law of God, which is the law of our faith, written in their 
own language." Vid. Fox's pref. to Saxon Gospel, a.d. 1571. 
Usser. de Script, et Sacr. Vern. 



INTRODUCTION. 29 

sons were burnt, on refusing to abjure their principles, 
for having read the New Testament, and the Ten 
Commandments, in WicklifFs translation 9 . In the 
reign of Henry VIII. whose violent passions were 
providentially rendered conducive to the reformation 
in this country, William Tvndal, or as he was other- 
wise called, Hickens \ having left the kingdom on 
account of his religious principles, translated at Ant- 
werp, by the assistance of John Fry, or Fryth, and 
William Rove, the New Testament from the Greek, 
and printed it in octavo, in 15*26 2 . The written- 
copies of Wickliffs translation had been long known, 
but this was the first time that any part of the Scrip- 
tures was printed in English. It appeared at Ham- 
burgh, or Antwerp, and was dispersed at London and 
Oxford. Wolsey, and the bishops, published prohibi- 
tions, and injunctions against it as false, and heretical. 
Tonstal, Bishop of London, and Sir Thomas More, 
bought up almost the whole impression, and burnt it 

9 At that time the people were so little acquainted with the 
Scriptures, and so ignorant even of the language in which they were 
originally written, that upon the appearance of printed editions of 
the Scriptures in the Hebrew and Greek originals, some of the more 
illiterate Monks declaimed from the pulpits, that " there was now a 
new language discovered, called Greek, of which people should 
beware, since it was that which produced all heresies ; that in this 
language was come forth a book called the New Testament, which 
w r as now in every body's hands, and was full of thorns and briers. 
And there had also another language now started up, which they 
called Hebrew, and that they who learnt it were turned Hebrews." 
Vid. Hodius de Biblior. textu original, lib. iii. c. 13. p. 464, 5. 
edit. Oxon. 1705. Erasm. epist. lib. xxxi. No. 42. edit. 1642. 

1 Hist, et Antiq. Oxon. lib. ii. p. 375, vol. ii. 

2 Fox's Acts. Usser. de Script, p. 187. Joye's Apology. Seven 



30 INTRODUCTION. 

at St. Paul's Cross, which, whether or not intended to 
serve Tyndal 3 , did most certainly assist him in the 
continuance, of his designs 4 . The venders of Tyndal's 
work were condemned by the star-chamber, to ride 
with their faces to the horses' tails, with papers on 
their heads, and with the books which they had dis- 
persed tied about them, to the standard in Cheapside, 
and they themselves were compelled to throw them 
into the fire, and were afterwards amerced by a con- 
siderable fine 5 . The clergy now professed an intention 
of publishing the New Testament themselves, and a 
proclamation was issued against Tyndal's work ; but 
before the appearance of this proclamation, Tyndal, by 
the help of Miles Coverdale, had translated the Penta- 
teuch, which was printed at Hamburgh, in small 
octavo, in 1530 6 . In the same year he published a 
corrected translation of the New Testament ; and in 

editions of Tyndal's New Testament are said to have been printed 
in ten years, making 1500 books. Waterland, Letter 16. to Rev. 
Mr. Lewis. See Works, vol. x. p. 282—7, edit. Van. Mildert, 
1823. 

3 Jortin's life of Erasm. Collier's Eccles. Hist. vol. ii. p. 22. Sir 
Thomas More's Engl, works, vol. ii. p. 369. The Dutch editions 
were soon published, and dispersed at a cheap rate, at about thirteen- 
pence each. The English books were sold for about 3s. 6d. Three 
editions were sold before 1530. Thus were eyes opened to the 
abuses of popery. 

4 Sir Thomas More objected to translations in general, and par- 
ticularly considered Tyndal's as erroneous, especially in matters of 
church government. Vid. Spelman's papers. Burnet, vol. i. b. 2. 
p. 160. 

5 Hall, Henry VIII., Fuller, &c. 

6 Mr. Thoresby speaks of a copy printed at Marpurg, in Hesse, 
by Hans Luft, in 1530. Vid. Ducat. Leod. Lewis says that Tyndal 
translated this Pentateuch from the Hebrew. Vid. Hist. Transl. p. 70. 



INTRODUCTION. 3 1 

1531, a translation of Jonah. As he had but little 
knowledge of the Hebrew, he probably rendered chiefly 
from the Latin, though he had some reference to the 
Hebrew, and his work had great merit, considering the 
disadvantages under which he laboured 7 . His prefaces, 
which reflected on the bishops and clergy, were chiefly 
complained of, though eagerly read by the people; 
and provoked Henry, at the instigation of his mi- 
nisters, to procure that he should be seized in Flan- 
ders, where he was afterwards strangled, and his body 
burnt. 

In 1535 Miles Coverdale published a translation of 
the whole Bible, which, as some have supposed, was 
printed at Zurich, chiefly from the original language. 
It was dedicated to the King, probably by permission, 
though Tyndal was now in prison for his work. 
Coverdale styled it a special translation, and it passed 
under his name ; but it is supposed to have contained 
much of Tyndal's labours, though none of his prologues, 
or notes 8 . 

Hebrew was first publicly taught in England in 
1524, by Robert Wakefield, under countenance of 
Henry VIII 9 . 

When the papal restrictions were no longer re- 

7 The translation of the Pentateuch was finished in 1528 ; but 
Tyndal being shipwrecked in his voyage to Hamburgh, lost all his 
papers, and was obliged to begin his work again. He was strangled 
and burnt near Villefort Castle, about eighteen miles from Antwerp, 
praying that God would open the king of England's eyes. Vid. 
Fox's Martyrs. He received only 14*. Flemish for his work. 

8 This was reprinted in large quarto in 1550, and again with a 
new title in 1553. 

9 Hodius Biblior. text, original, lib. iii. c. 13. p. 465, edit. Oxon. 
1705. 



32 INTRODUCTION. 

spected in this country, it was strenuously urged, that 
if Tyndal's translation were erroneous, a new one 
should be made ; and Cranmer had sufficient interest 
in convocation, in 1535, to obtain, that a petition 
should be made to the king for that purpose. Henry, 
influenced partly by argument, and partly by the in- 
terest which Anne Boleyn had in his affections, com- 
manded that it should be immediately taken in hand. 
Cranmer began with the New Testament, assigning a 
portion of the translation to be revised by each bishop. 
But the refusal of Stokesly, Bishop of London, to cor- 
rect his portion, appears to have put a stop to the 
work at that time. In 1536 Cromwell directed in his 
injunctions to the clergy, " that every parson or pro- 
prietary of a church, should provide a Bible in Latin 
and English, to be laid in the choir for every one to 
read at his pleasure." 

In 1537 was published a folio edition of the Bible, 
which was called Matthews's Bible, of Tyndal's and 
Rogers's translation ; it was printed by Grafton and 
Whitchurch, at Hamburgh K Tyndal is said to have 
translated to the end of Chronicles, or, as some state, 
of Nehemiah, if not all the canonical books both of the 
Old and New Testament 2 , and Rogers completed the 
rest, partly from Coverdale's translation. He had 
compared it with the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin 
Bibles, and separated the Apocryphal Books, inserting 
prefaces and notes from Luther. As the name of 
Tyndal, who had been burnt for an heretic, was now 

1 The 1500 copies cost 500/. then a large sum. 

2 It certainly contained his translation of Jonah. See More's 
Confutation of Tyndal's Answer, 1542 : and others translated diffe- 
rent parts. 



INTRODUCTION. 33 

become in some degree obnoxious, Rogers published it 
under the feigned name of Matthews. It was dedi- 
cated, and presented at Cranmer's request, by Crom- 
well, to the King, who gave his assent that it should 
be printed in English, and generally read; and not- 
withstanding the opposition of the clergy, the book 
was received by the public with great joy. 

Another edition was afterwards prepared and 
collated with the original, by Miles Coverdale ; and 
Grafton and Whitchurch obtained leave to publish 
it at Paris on account of the cheapness and superiority 
of the paper. But notwithstanding the French King's 
licence, the Inquisition in 1 538 obliged the printers to 
fly as heretics, and very few copies of the impression 
could be rescued from the flames 4 . 

The presses however, and other printing appurtenan- 
ces, being afterwards procured and brought to London, 
the Bible was published there in 1538 or in 1539 5 by 
the King's authority. This was called the Bible in the 
great or large volume. It was published in folio, and 
had a frontispiece before it, designed by Holbein ; but 
neither Coverdale's, nor Cranmer's preface, nor Tyndal's 
notes ; only an account of the succession of the Kings 
of Judah, and directions in what manner the Old Tes- 
tament should be read 6 . In this edition those passages 

4 A few that an officer of the Inquisition had sold as waste paper, 
were recovered. The impression consisted of 2500. 

5 Strype's Life of Cranmer, p. 444. 

6 This edition as well as Matthews's Bible, is divided into five 
tomes. The apocryphal books, which are contained in the fourth 
of these divisions, are improperly entitled Hagiographa, as some of 
them are called in a secondary sense, if the text be not corrupted by 
St. Jerom. Vid. Hieron. praef. in Job, Reinhold's Prselect. and 
James's Corrupt, of Fathers, par. ii. p. 22. 

D 



34 INTRODUCTION. 

in the Latin, which were not to be found in the origi- 
nal, were printed in a small letter, as was also the 
controverted text in St. John's epistle. It was objected 
to by the Bishops as faulty ; but as they admitted that 
it contained no heresies, the King said, " then in God's 
name let it go abroad among my people." The epistles, 
gospels, and psalms, of this translation, which were 
inserted in our Liturgy when compiled, and afterwards 
revised, in the reign of Edward the Sixth, were pre- 
served in it till the restoration of Charles the Second, 
when the gospels and epistles were changed for those 
of King James's translation. The old psalter, however, 
was retained, and is still read as excellent, and familiar 
by long use. An order was soon afterwards issued out, 
that every church should be provided with one of these 
Bibles. 

In 1539 a second or third edition of this was re- 
vised and published by Richard Taverner, which had 
many marginal notes of Matthews's Bible ; and was 
followed by other editions. In 1540 appeared a very 
improved edition, corrected by Archbishop Cranmer. 
It was called Cranmer's Bible, or the Bible of the 
greater volume 7 . It was republished in 1541, and 
countenanced by authority, and a proclamation was 
issued, that every parish church which was yet unpro- 
vided, should procure it, under a penalty, if neglected, 
of 40s. per month. The Romish Bishops still con- 
tinued their endeavours, in opposition to Cranmer, and 
attempted to corrupt the subsequent editions by a 



7 It was published in folio : the price was fixed at 10s. unbound, 
and 12s, bound ; six were placed in St, Paul's church by Bishop 
Bonner. 



INTRODUCTION. 35 

multiplication of Latin words 8 ; and though Cranmer 
obtained an order that the Bible should be examined 
by both universities, it appears not to have been put in 
execution. 

In 1542 an act of Parliament 9 was obtained by the 
adversaries of translations, condemning Tyndal's Bible, 
forbidding annotations or preambles in Bibles or New 
Testaments in English, and the reading of the Bible 
in English in any churches, or by the lower orders. 
Cranmer procured an indulgence for the higher ranks 
to read them in private. The use of the Scriptures 
being very much abused, the interdiction was con- 
tinued, and confirmed during Henry's reign. 

In the short reign of Edward the Sixth, all persons 
were allowed the use of translations ; and new editions 
of Taverner's and of Matthews's Bibles ! were pub- 
lished, and the Bible of the larger volume was ordered 
to be procured for churches 2 . Every ecclesiastical 
person under the degree of Bachelor of Divinity, was 
enjoined to provide a New Testament in Latin and 

8 Matt. Parker Antiq. Lewis, p. 146. 

9 An. 34, Henry VIII. chapter 1. 

1 One of Taverner's in 1549, and one of Matthews's in 1551. 
Eleven impressions of the whole English Bible, and six of the New 
Testament were published ; some were also reprinted from Tyndal's, 
Coverdale's and Cranmer's editions. Vid. Fuller and Lewis. 

2 These were to be procured at the expense of the parish. Before, 
the impropriator defrayed half the charge of the books used in the 
church, or sometimes the parson. In times of popery, missals, 
breviaries, and manuals, being written, were very expensive, and 
were bought by the rector. When rectories were annexed to re- 
ligious houses, they continued to be subject to the charge of the 
books. There were, however, many disputes upon this subject, and 
the rectors often compelled the vicars to pay for binding the books, 
Vid. Lewis's Hist. Trans, p. 176. 

1)2 



36 INTRODUCTION. 

English, with the paraphrase of Erasmus ; and Gardiner, 
Bishop of Winchester, was committed to the Fleet for 
refusing compliance with these measures, and persist- 
ing in his opinions, was at length deprived. It was 
ordered also, that the epistle and gospel should be 
read at high mass on Sundays and Holidays, and a 
chapter of the New Testament in the Morning, and of 
the Old at Evening song. 

In Mary's reign, different principles prevailed ; all 
books which were considered as heretical, as those con- 
taining the Common Prayer, and suspected copies of 
the Bible, were condemned. The Gospellers, as they 
were then called, fled abroad, and a new translation of 
the scriptures into English by Coverdale, Goodman, 
and others, appeared at Geneva, of which the New 
Testament was published in 1557; but the remainder 
of the work did not come forth till 1560. It was said 
to be from the original languages, was distinguished 
by Calvinistical annotations, and holden in high esti- 
mation by the puritans 3 . 

3 Above thirty editions of this were published by the Queen's 
and King's printers, between 1560 and 1616, and others were 
printed at Edinburgh, Geneva, Amsterdam, &c. The new Testa- 
ment of this is said to have been the first English edition of the 
Scriptures which was divided into verses. The Greek and Latin 
Bibles were not anciently divided into chapters or verses, at least 
not like those now used. Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Can- 
terbury, in the reigns of King John and of King Henry III. is said 
to have first contrived the division into chapters ; others ascribe the 
invention to Cardinal Hugo, a Dominican Monk, of the thirteenth 
century, who adopted also sub-divisions, distinguished by the seven 
first letters of the alphabet placed in the margin, as convenient for 
the use of the Concordance, which he first planned for the Vulgate. 
About 1445, Rabbi Mordecai Nathan, alias Rabbi Isaac Nathan, a 



INTRODUCTION. 37 

Elizabeth was indirectly requested at her coronation, 
to countenance the translation, the Bible being pre- 
sented to her in her procession, which she accepted 
with great appearance of gratitude and veneration ; and 
the Bishops were soon afterwards directed to prepare 
a translation. New editions of the Geneva, and of the 
great Bible were published. An act of Parliament 
was likewise passed for a translation of the Bible into 
Welsh, which was printed in 1556. 

In 1568, Archbishop Parker's very correct and im- 
proved translation, undertaken by the royal command, 
and revised by the Bishops, under the direction of the 
Archbishop, and called the Bishop's Bible, appeared in 
folio 4 , with a preface by Parker. It was executed by 
very learned men, and the initial letter of every trans- 
lator subjoined to his portion. Towards the conclusion 
of Elizabeth's reign Ambrose Usher, brother of the pri- 
mate of Armagh, rendered much of the Old Testament 

western Jew, to facilitate the conduct of a controversy with the 
Christians, introduced this division of chapters into the Hebrew 
Bibles, and resumed also the ancient division into verses numerically 
distinguished by marginal letters at every fifth verse ; from him the 
Christians received, and improved the plan ; and Robert Stephens 
adopted the division into the New Testament, of which he published 
a Greek edition in 1551. Vide Praefat. Buxtorf. ad Concord. Bibl. 
Hebraic. Morin. Exercit. Bibl. lib. ii. exercit. 17. c. 3. p. 484, edit. 
Paris, 1660. Praef. ad Concord. Graec. N. Test. Fabrici. Biblioth. 
Graec. lib. iv. c. v. Prid. vol. i. book v. 

4 It was printed in thick quarto, and afterwards frequently in 
folio and quarto in 1569. This Bible was used in the public service 
for near forty years ; but the Geneva Bible being more adapted to 
the prevailing opinions, was most read in private. See Le Long, p. 
430, Lewis, &c. 



38 INTRODUCTION. 

into English, from the Hebrew; which was never 
published 5 . 

Objections, however, being raised against all these 
translations, as well as against others made in opposition 
to them, it was determined in the reign of King James 
the First, when the principles of the Reformation were 
thoroughly established, to have a new version, which 
should be as much as possible free from all the errors 
and defects of former translations. Accordingly, fifty- 
four learned and eminent men, conversant with the 
original, were appointed. Several of these, however, 
either died, or from diffidence declined the task. Every 
possible precaution was taken to prevent objection to the 
execution of the work. The remaining forty-seven were 
ranged into six divisions 6 . They had recourse to the 
Hebrew. Each individual translated the portion assigned 
to the division, all of which translations were collated 
together, and when the several companies had deter- 
mined on the construction of their part, it was sub- 
mitted to the other divisions for general approbation. 
They had the benefit of consulting all preceding trans- 
lations, but were directed to follow, as nearly as might 
be consistent with fidelity, the ordinary Bible which 
was distinguished by the appellation of the Bishops' 
Bible. The contributions and assistance of the learned 
were solicited and obtained from all parts, and different 
opinions were deliberately examined by the translators, 
without any regard to the complaints against their 

* Daniel, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, and Job, were translated by 
Hugh Broughton. The manuscript of this version is still in three 
tomes quarto, in the library of Trinity-college, Dublin. 

6 Vid. Johnson's account. Fuller, Seiden, and Collier. 



INTRODUCTION. 39 

tardiness in the execution of the work. The translators 
met at Oxford, and Cambridge, and Westminster 7 . 
They began the work in 1607, and finished it in about 
three years. The death of Mr. Edward Lively, who 
was well skilled in the original languages, somewhat 
retarded the publication. It came out, however, in 
1611, with all the improvements that could be derived 
from united industry, and conjoined abilities. It was 
first published in folio, in black letter, but a quarto 
edition was published in 1612, in the Roman type. It 
has since been repeatedly published in both. The Ro- 
manists 8 started many unreasonable objections against 
this translation ; and the Presbyterians professed them- 
selves dissatisfied. It was, however, allowed, even by 
Cromwell's committee, to be the best extant ; and cer- 
tainly it is a most wonderful and incomparable work, 

7 Three copies were sent to London, and two persons from each 
company were selected to revise the whole work. It was afterwards 
revised by Bilson, Bishop of Winchester, and Dr. Miles Smith. 
These two persons prefixed the arguments to the several books, and 
Dr. Smith, afterwards Bishop of Gloucester, wrote the preface now 
prefixed to the folio editions. Bishop Bancroft is supposed to have 
been the overseer under his Majesty, to whom it is said in the 
preface, that the Church was much bound. The marginal references, 
and the chronological index annexed, which are published chiefly in 
the quarto editions, were afterwards furnished by Bishop Lloyd. 

8 The English Romanists, finding it impossible to prevent the 
introduction of translations, published the New Testament at Rheims, 
in 1582, from the Latin, in a manner as favourable to their opinions 
as possible, and afterwards in 1609, they published at Douay a 
translation of the Old Testament, from the Vulgate, with annota- 
tions. They have, therefore, a translation of the whole Bible, 
which, however, they are forbidden to read without a licence from 
their superiors. The French Romanists have no authorized trans- 
lation into their language^. 



40 INTRODUCTION. 

equally remarkable for the general fidelity of its con- 
struction, and the magnificent simplicity of its lan- 
guage. 

That it is not a perfect work is readily admitted; 
preceding versions were, perhaps, in some instances 
more successful ; and subsequent translations of indi- 
vidual books may, in particular parts, have been more 
faithful : the great advancement made in the original 
languages since the date of the authorised version, 
the improvement in critical learning, and the many 
discoveries in the general pursuits of knowledge, have 
much tended to illustrate the sacred writings, and en- 
abled us to detect many errors and defects of trans- 
lation that might now be corrected and removed : 
and, what is a still more important advantage, we are 
now in possession of many hundred manuscripts which 
the translators under King James had no opportu- 
nities of consulting 9 . We are likewise emancipated 
from superstitious prejudices concerning the universal 
purity of the Hebrew text, and from a slavish credulity 
with regard to the Masoretic points. Whenever, there- 
fore, it shall be judged expedient by well-advised and 
considerate measures, to authorize a revisal of this 
translation, it will certainly be found capable of many, 
and great improvements 1 . As such a work, deliber- 
ately planned, and judiciously executed, would unques- 
tionably contribute much to the advancement of true 

9 Our translation was made from manuscripts of three, and four 
hundred years old, since it agrees with those only. But more 
ancient manuscripts are more correct, and more consistent with the 
Samaritan Pentateuch, and ancient versions. 

1 Bishop Lloyd's edition of our translation is improved in some 
respects. Dr. Paris likewise revised it in 1745. 



INTRODUCTION. 41 

religion, many pious men have expressed their earnest 
wishes for its accomplishment ; and doubtless, at some 
favourable time, by the blessing of God, the prudent 
governors of our church will provide for its execution. 
It is a work not lightly to be taken in hand, and certainly 
no single person is competent to the task. It is to be 
presumed, at least, that when a new translation shall 
be countenanced by public authority, it will be under- 
taken with the same cautious and deliberate measures, 
that were observed under King James. It should 
be the production of collective industry, and general 
contribution ; and the prejudices and mistakes which 
must characterise the works of individuals, should be 
corrected by united enquiry, dispassionate examination, 
and fair criticism. They, who already consecrate their 
labours to the task of translating the whole, or any 
part of the scriptures, are entitled to public gratitude 
and encouragement ; their endeavours must at least 
contribute to illustrate the sacred pages, and tend to 
facilitate the great work of a national translation. Till, 
however, the execution of this work shall be judged 
expedient, every sincere and well-disposed admirer of 
the holy oracles may be satisfied with the present trans- 
lation, which is indeed highly excellent : being in its 
doctrines incorrupt, and in its general construction, 
faithful to the original. The captious, chiefly, and such 
as seek for blemishes, are disposed to cavil at its minute 
imperfections ; which, however, in a work of such 
serious and interesting value, they may require correc- 
tion, should not be invidiously detailed. The few pas- 
sages, which, by being erroneously translated, have 
furnished occasion for unjust and licentious aspersions 
against the Sacred Volume, are so clearly and satis- 



42 INTRODUCTION. 

factorily explained, by judicious comments, that no 
one can be misled in his conceptions, who is de- 
sirous of obtaining instruction. To amend the ren- 
dering of these passages will be the object of all future 
translators, who will undoubtedly be desirous of adher- 
ing as much as possible to the present version, and of 
adopting, where they can, a construction, familiarized 
by long use, and endeared by habitual reverence ; of 
which the style has long served as a standard of our 
language, and of which the peculiar harmony and excel- 
lence could never be improved by any change that 
refinement might substitute. 



OF THE PENTATEUCH. 



The Pentateuch, under which title the five Books of 
Moses are usually distinguished, is a word of Greek 
original \ It was, probably, first prefixed to the Septua- 
gint version, and was designed to include Genesis, 
Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy; all of 
which were written by Moses, in his own hand, pro- 
bably in the order in which they now stand in our 
translation, though not distributed by their author into 
books, but composed in one continued work, as they 
remain to this day among the Jews, with no other 
division but that of little, and great Parasches 2 . It is 

1 From Havre five, and Ttvypg volume. It is called by the Jews, 
'tTDin, a word synonymous with Pentateuch ; also mil"), the Law, a 
word which, when used in a larger sense, is applied to the whole 
volume of the Scriptures. 

2 Parasches, from ims, to separate. The division of the law into 
parasches, or sections, is, by some attributed to Moses ; by others, 
with more probability, to Ezra ; they amounted to fifty-four, that by 
reading one of those portions every Sabbath in the synagogue, the 
people might fulfil a fancied obligation to read the law once publicly 
every year ; the intercalated years contained fifty-four Sabbaths, and 
in other years a reduction correspondent to the number of Sabbaths 
was easily made, by an occasional junction of two chapters. These 
greater portions were subdivided into several smaller parts, called 



44 OF THE PENTATEUCH. 

uncertain when they were divided into books, but pro- 
bably the division was first adopted in the Septuagint 
version, as the titles prefixed are of Greek derivation ; 
they were, however, distinguished as five books in the 
time of Josephus. 

That the Pentateuch was written by Moses, we are 
authorized to affirm by the concurrent testimony of 
antiquity, and by the uniform report of uninterrupted 
tradition. He speaks of himself in many parts, as the 
appointed author of its contents 3 . It is mentioned as 
the work of Moses under the title of the Law, by 
almost all the sacred writers, and cited as indisputably 
his work 4 , and it was received as such by the Jews and 
Samaritans, by every sect of the Hebrew and of the 
Christian church. 

These books, indeed, could not have been written 
subsequently to the time of Moses, for they are ad- 
dressed to the Israelites as contemporaries, " being 

pesukim, or verses, which were probably inserted by Ezra for the 
use of the Targumists, or Chaldee interpreters, who after the captivity 
read a Chaldaic version of the Scriptures, with the original, for the 
benefit of those who had forgotten the Hebrew tongue, reading verse 
for verse alternately. The same division was adopted in the pro- 
phetical books, when the reading of the law was forbidden by An- 
tiochus Epiphanes, but in them three verses were read together. 
These divisions are by no means the same as those in our Bibles. The 
Jews read half of the section on the Monday, the remainder on the 
Thursday, and on the Sabbath the whole of the section, both evening 
and morning. Vid. Prid. sub an. 444. 

3 Exod. xvii. 14. xxiv. 4 — 7. xxxiv. 27. Numb, xxxiii. 4. Deut. 
xxxi. 9. 19. 22. 24. Mark xii. 26. Abbadie, Verite de la Relig. 
Chretien. Joseph, cont. Apion, lib. i. § 8. Procem. Ant. § 3. 11 
•—35. 

1 Joshua i. 7, 8. viii. 31—35. Judg. iii. 4. 2 Kings xiv. 6. 



OF THE PENTATEUCH. 45 

delivered to the Levites which bare the ark, and unto 
the elders of Israel 5 ;" and they never afterwards could 
have been imposed as a genuine work upon his country- 
men, whose religion and government were built upon 
them. They exhibit also those minute details which 
prove that they were written by one who witnessed the 
events described. But what is sufficient to establish, 
not only the authenticity of these five books, as the 
work of Moses, but also their claim to a divine origin, 
as dictated by the Spirit of God, is, that the words and 
laws of Moses are cited by the sacred writers, as the 
words and laws of God 6 , and that they were appealed 
to by our Saviour and his Apostles, on various occasions, 
as the genuine work of Moses ; as the production of an 
inspired person, or prophet 7 ; and on a solemn occasion, 
Christ confirmed every jot and tittle of the Law, and 
bore testimony to the infallible accomplishment of its 
designs and promises 8 . 

It may be observed also that the whole code of laws, 
many of which were adapted to future circumstances, 
and figurative of future institutions, could not have 
been composed by an uninspired teacher. 

These books, as has been before observed, were im- 
mediately after their composition deposited in the 
tabernacle 9 , and thence transferred to the temple, 

2 Chron. xxx. 16. xxiii. 18. Nehem. i. 7, 8, 9. and the Psalms 
and Prophets passim. 

5 Deut. xxxi. 9. 

6 Nehem. viii. 14. Jerem. vii. 23. Matt. xv. 4. Galat. iv. 30. 
Heb. viii. 5. xi. 23. James ii. 8. 

7 Jotmi. 45. Luke xxiv. 27. Gal. iv. 21. See also John v. 46, 47. 

8 Matt. v. 17, 18. Luke xvi. 17. 31. 

9 Deut. xxxi. 26. Somewhere on the outside of the ark. Vid. 
1 Kings viii. 9. 2 Chron. v. 10. 



46 OF THE PENTATEUCH. 

where they were preserved with the most vigilant care, 
being appointed to be read every seventh year at public 
solemnities 1 ; every expression was deemed inspired by 
the articles of the Jewish creed. The Jews maintained 
that God had more care of the letters and syllables of 
the Law, than of the stars in heaven, and that upon 
each tittle of it, whole mountains of doctrine hung : 
hence every individual letter was numbered, and notice 
was taken how often it occurred 2 . The Law was read 
every Sabbath day in the synagogues 3 , and again so- 
lemnly every seventh year. The prince was directed to 
copy it 4 , and the people were commanded to teach it 
to their children, and to wear it, " as signs on their 
hands, and frontlets between their eyes 5 ." In the cor- 
rupt and idolatrous reigns, indeed, of some of the kings 
of Judah, the sacred books appear to have been much 
neglected. In the time of Jehoshaphat it was judged 
necessary to carry about a book of the law, for the in- 
struction of the people 6 , and many copies might have 

1 Deut. xxxi. 10, 11. 

2 The Jews reduced the whole Law to 613 precepts, according to 
the number of the letters of the Decalogue, intimating that the whole 
law was reductively contained therein. 

3 Luke iv. 16. Acts xiii. 15. 27. xv. 21. xxvii, 23. 2 Cor. iii. 
15. Hieron. cap. vi. Bava Bathra. Maimon. praef. in Chaz. Aben 
Ezra, in chap. xxv. 16. R. David Kimchi. Deut. xxxi. 10. 24. 26. 

4 Deut. xvii. 18, 19. xxvii. 3. xxxi. 10, 11. 

5 Exod. xiii, 9. Levit. x. 11. Deut. vi. 6—9. 21. xi. 18, 19. 
This was probably a figurative precept which the Jews superstitiously 
fulfilled in a literal sense, with phylacteries, inscribed bracelets, &c. 
Vid. Isaiah xlix. 16. Buxtorf. Synagog. Jud. c. 9. 

6 2 Chron. xvii. 8, 9. This indeed might have been an ancient 
practice, only revived by Jehoshaphat, for the Hebrews had probably 
few, if any, established synagogues before the captivity, and this 



OF THE PENTATEUCH. 47 

perished under Manasseh : yet still a sufficient number 
was always preserved by God's providence. It is men- 
tioned, indeed, in the book of Kings 7 , as a particular 
circumstance, that in the time of Josiah, the book of 
the Law was found by the high-priest Hilkiah ; but this 
by no means implies, that all other copies had been de- 
stroyed ; for whether by the Book of the Law there 
mentioned, be understood the original autograph of 
Moses, (which was probably intended 8 ) or only an 
authentic public copy, which might have been taken by 
the priests from the side of the ark of the covenant, to 
preserve it from the sacrilegious violence of Manasseh, 
it cannot reasonably be supposed to have been the only 
book of the Law then extant, since every King was 
obliged to copy the Law on his accession to the throne, 
it being the very basis of every civil, as well as of 
every religious regulation ; and not to mention private 
copies, Josiah must certainly have before seen the book 
of the Law, or he would not have projected the reform- 
ation of his kingdom in the manner recorded in the 
book of Kings 9 . The surprise, therefore, that Hilkiah, 
and the grief that Josiah are related to have felt, were 
owing either to the extraordinary circumstance of find- 
ing the book in the time of cleansing the temple, and 
of their endeavours to effect a reformation ; or to a 
sudden conviction of the multiplicity and importance of 
those precepts, which as they must have been conscious, 
had been violated and neglected. 

account only proves, that public copies were not generally dispersed 
through the cities of Judea. Vid. 2 Chron. xv. 3. 

7 2 Kings xxii. 8. 11. 8 2 Chron. xxxiv. 14. 

9 Hottinger, Hist. Eccles. N. T. sect. XVI. Pars 4. p. 137. 

1 



48 OF THE PENTATEUCH. 

Whether or not Moses wrote out twelve copies, as 
is related by tradition ] ; it is probable that each tribe 
was furnished with a book of the Law. The schools of 
the prophets likewise, the ten tribes of Israel, and the 
Levites, who were appointed to read the Law in all 
parts, must have been provided with books ; and it is 
certain that authentic copies were preserved during the 
captivity 2 , and publicly read after the return 3 . It may 
be added also, that as scribes of the Law were at this 
time an existing order 4 , there is no improbability in the 
accounts, which state, that Ezra and Nehemiah pro- 
duced 300 copies for the congregation and synagogues, 
founded on the re-establishment of the Jewish church. 
The same reverence which henceforward occasioned a 
multiplication of the copies of the Law called forth also 
more numerous guardians to watch over its purity; and 
the increasing accuracy of the Masora, contributed still 
farther to secure its integrity. 

The Jews believed that Moses was enlightened by a 
much higher and more excellent inspiration than any 
subsequent prophet 5 and his superiority is expressly 
asserted in an eulogium on his character in the book of 
Deuteronomy, which may have been inserted by Ezra. 
In the New Testament he is always mentioned distinctly, 
and with peculiar respect 6 . He conversed with God 
" face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend 7 ," in 

1 Huet. Demonst. Evang. Prop. iv. cap. xiv. p. 145 and 260. 
Edit. Paris, 1679. 

2 Dan. ix. 11. 13. Tobit vi. 12. vii. 13. 

3 Ezra iii. 2. vi. 18. Nehem. i. 8, 9. 

4 Jerem. viii. 8. Ezra iv. 8. 

5 Vid. Maimon. de Fund. Legis. Huet. Prop. iv. cap. 72. 

6 Mark ix. 4. Luke xvi. 29. Acts vii. 35. Rev. xv. 3. 

7 Exod. xxxiii. 11. 



OF THE PENTATEUCH. 49 

that privileged and familiar intercourse which St. Paul 
promises to the heirs of future salvation 8 . Some, 
indeed, have supposed that Moses did not literally con- 
template God himself; for our Saviour says, that " no 
man hath seen God at any time 9 ," and we are told 
that " the Law was given by angels 1 ." He beheld, 
however, as much as it was possible for man to behold, 
some apparent and distinct representation of the divine 
presence of the Father or the Son miraculously dis- 
played, though veiled perhaps in a glorious cloud; it 
being impossible, as indeed Moses himself was informed, 
for man to contemplate the actual face, or un tempered 
majesty of God 2 . It must, therefore, be understood 
that God spake to him not in visions and dark speeches, 
but in clear and manifest revelations 3 . Moses was like- 
wise privileged to address God at all times 4 , without 
the assistance of the high-priest, who consulted by 
means of the Urim and Thummim. From revelations 
communicated thus immediately from God, proceeded 
those striking prophecies which he delivered. And 
these prophecies, with many others which he re- 
corded, as uttered by the Patriarchs, to whom God 
disclosed his will, were gradually fulfilled in successive 
events, or finally accomplished in the Messiah. 

Moses was likewise eminently invested with the 
power of miracles, and performed many illustrious won- 
ders in Egypt, and in the wilderness ; for the truth of 

8 1 Cor. xiii. 12. Smith's Discourse on Prophecy, ch. ii. and xi. 

9 John i. 18. v. 37. 

1 Acts vii. 38. 53. Heb. ii. 2. Gal. iii. 19. 

2 Exod. xxxiii. 20. 3 Numb. xii. 7, 8. 
4 Numb. ix. 8. Exod. xxv. 22. xxix. 42. xxx. 36. 

E 



50 OF THE PENTATEUCH. 

which he appealed to his countrymen, and grounded the 
authority of his government and laws upon them 5 . 
The Egyptian magicians, who were interested to defeat 
his measures, acknowledged that " the finger of God 6 " 
was shown in his miracles, and the Israelites, who 
beheld his power, were so satisfied of the truth of his 
pretensions (themselves having witnessed the support 
which he received from God), that they adopted his 
laws, and incorporated them into the very frame of 
their government, so that their civil and religious polity 
was founded on the platform which he had drawn. 
These laws were not moulded in conformity to any 
exigences of experience, but appointed prospectively in 
the wilderness, with a view to future circumstances, 
and with fore-knowledge of the nature of a country of 
which the people were not then in possession, and with 
which Moses was not acquainted. 

The people could not but be impressed with venera- 
tion for their legislator. They beheld his extraordinary 
qualities ; his open and generous temper ; his fortitude 
and meekness so admirably blended 7 ; his piety and 
wisdom ; his zeal for God's service, and for the welfare 
of his people 8 , which led him to prefer " affliction to the 



5 Numb. xvi. 28—35. Exod. xiv. 31. xix. 9. 

6 Exod. viii. 19. Euseb. Prsep. Evan. lib. ix. cap. 10. See 
Bryant's observations on the plagues inflicted on the Egyptians, p. 
244—248. 

7 Ecclus. xlv. 1 — 5. 

8 Exod. xxxii. 32. By entreating to be " blotted out of God's 
book," Moses probably meant, that he would submit to death, and 
the loss of God's promised blessings, if he could obtain a remission 
of the sins of the Israelites. Comp. with Numb. xi. 15. 29. 



OF THE PENTATEUCH. 51 

treasures of Egypt 9 ." They saw that in obedience to 
God's sentence, he continued to wander with them in a 
desert, where even sustenance could be obtained only 
by miracles, and that he exerted the same strenuous 
endeavours for the attainment of the promised land, 
after it had been revealed to him that he should not live 
to conduct the people to its possession 1 . They beheld, 
likewise, that disinterested liberality with which he 
distributed wealth and honours on other families, while 
he left his own to attend on the tabernacle in a sub- 
ordinate character 2 , without any allotment of land, 
or provision, but what must have been deemed pre- 
carious, if he had not trusted in Divine support for 
the permanency of his institutions ; appointing a stran- 
ger to succeed him in the government of the people, 
and directing them to look to the tribe of Judah for their 
future sovereigns, and a greater prophet ' than himself s . 
If our knowledge of the existence of these quali- 
ties be drawn from the accounts of Moses himself, it 
must be recollected that he addressed his contempo- 
raries, who could, from their own experience, judge 
of his veracity, and that he appealed to them as to 
living witnesses of the facts which he recorded. The 
description of the miracles is so blended with, and 
constitutes so large a portion of the history ; and the 
events which occurred, resulted indeed so evidently from 
the interposition of providence, that we cannot deny 
the proofs of a Divine agency, without disputing the 

9 Heb. xi. 24—28. Exod. ii. 1 — 15. Joseph. Antiq. lib. iv. 
cap. 8. 

1 Numb, xxvii. 12, 13. 

2 Numb. xi. 29. xxvii. 15 — 17. xxxiv. 17. Deut. i. 38. 

3 Gen. xlix. 10. Numb, xxvii. 16, 17- Deut. xviii. 15. 

e2 



52 OF THE PENTATEUCH. 

truth of facts which are incontrovertible. His wis- 
dom and integrity are displayed likewise in the des- 
cription of his actions, and not by artful encomiums on 
his own character, of which he seldom speaks, but to 
illustrate his conduct. If, indeed, he be sometimes pro- 
voked to assert his claim to that praise to which he was 
justly entitled 4 , he confesses with equal candour, his own 
faults and misconduct 5 . With the same ingenuous 
regard to truth, he also recorded the errors and sins 
of his own ancestors and relations 6 , and of Aaron, who 
acted with him ; and boldly censured the disobedience 
of the people whom he addressed. He uniformly re- 
presented them as a " stiff-necked and rebellious peo- 
ple," reminding them of their base ingratitude to God, 
and fearlessly threatened them with further marks of 
the Divine vengeance 7 . He delivered his laws without 
respect to persons ; spoke in the peremptory tone of 
one commissioned by God, not as desirous to conciliate 
favour, but as confiding in the assistance of Him, whose 
minister he was, yet evidencing a tender solicitude for 
their repentance. 

4 Numb. xii. 3. 

6 Numb. xx. 1 — 12. xxvii. 12. 14. It has been a subject of some 
discussion to determine by what misconduct Moses and Aaron pro- 
voked the Divine displeasure. The text informs us that God charged 
them with unbelief, and with not having sanctified or given glory- 
to God. In the tenth verse Moses says, " Hear now, ye rebels, shall 
we produce water ?" Moses was commanded only to speak to the 
rock, and he smote it twice. Vide Psalm cvi. 32, 33. Exod. iv. 13. 
xxxii. 32. Numb. xi. 11. 15. 21. 23. xxvii. 14. Deut. iii. 25. 27. 
iv. 21, 22. xxxi. 14. xxxii. 51. Usher's Body of Divinity, p. 8. 

6 Gen. xxxiv. 13—30. xlix. 5—1. Exod. vi. 20. xxxii. 4. 
Numb. xii. 1, 2. 10. Capell. ad A. M. 2481. 

7 Deut. ix. 4—24. xxxii. 20—25. 28; also Numb. xiv. 11, 12. 






OF THE PENTATEUCH. 53 

If the contemporaries of Moses, who were the spec- 
tators of the works, and qualities which he displayed, 
had incontestable evidence of the divine appointment 
of their legislator ; succeeding generations had also 
sufficient proofs of the truth and authority of those 
writings, which he bequeathed for their instruction. 
They must have been convinced that the deliverance 
from Egypt, and the sustenance procured for so large 
a multitude, during the continuance in the wilderness, 
could have been obtained only by divine interposition. 
They must have been persuaded, that their forefathers 
could not have accepted the dispensation of Moses, 
but in the assurance of its being revealed from God ; 
and they beheld permanent testimonies of his veracity 
and divine commission, in the perpetual observance of 
the many festivals 8 , laws, and rites 9 , of which he re- 
corded the institution, as well as in the preservation 
of those standing vouchers of the truth of his his- 
tory and pretensions, the ark and tabernacle \ the 
Urim and Thummim ; the attestation of the prophets ; 
and lastly, in the accomplishment of his threats and 
promises, which they experienced in various vicissi- 
tudes. This confidence was confirmed also by the 
covenanted protection afforded during their attendance 
on God's service at their solemn feasts 2 ; by the 

8 As those of the feasts of the Passover, of Pentecost, of Taber- 
nacles, of Sabbaths, &c. 

9 As that of Circumcision. 

1 As also the Tables of Stone, the rod of Aaron, which blossomed 
in the night ; the preserved manna, and the brazen serpent, kept 
till the time of Hezekiah. Vid. 2 Kings xviii. 4. Exod. xvi. 33, 
34. Numb. xvii. 5 — 8. Heb. ix. 4. 

2 Exod. xxxiv. 23, 24. 



54 OF THE PENTATEUCH. 

superfluous abundance that preceded the sabbatical 
and the jubilee years 3 ; by the miraculous effects of 
the waters of jealousy 4 ; by the descent of the celes- 
tial fire which consumed the sacrifices 5 ; and by many 
other particulars, which need not be enumerated, 
but which fully account for those firm convictions, and 
for that rooted attachment to the memory and writings 
of their great lawgiver, which they have entailed on 
their posterity 6 . 

Moses was of the tribe of Levi, the son of Amram, 
and an immediate descendant of Abraham. He was 
born, according to Bishop Usher, about A. m. 2433 7 ; 
and was distinguished for the attractive beauty of his 
form. He was miraculously preserved from destruction, 
and " educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians 8 ." 
He displayed early marks of superior qualities, and 
being selected by God for the deliverance and instruc- 
tion of the Israelites, maturely examined the truth 
of the Divine appearance, and diffidently declined the 
commission 9 , being, as he said, " slow of speech \" and 
apprehensive that he was of too little estimation, to be 
appointed as the deliverer of the Israelites. But when 
encouraged by God, he accepted of the appointment ; 
and with perseverance and fortitude which have never 

3 Levit. xxv. 3—22. 

4 Numb. v. 11—31. 

5 1 Kings xviii. 38, 2 Chron. vii. 1. 2 Mace. ii. 10. 

6 Euseb. Historia Ecclesiast. lib. ix. cap. ix.p. 358-9. 

7 Annal. Vet. Test. p. 18. 

8 Acts vii. 20—22. Philo de Vit. Mos. lib. i. p. 606. Macrobius, 
Saturn, lib. ii. cap. 15. 

9 Exod. iii. i Exod. iv. 10. 



OF THE PENTATEUCH. 55 

been equalled, contended for, and by divine assist- 
ance effected, the deliverance of the Israelites from 
their severe bondage ; and conducted them through 
difficulties miraculously subdued to the borders of the 
promised land. Even then he still lingered in the 
wilderness, in a manner which cannot be explained but 
upon the supposition that he was directed by God. He 
received from the Almighty a collection of precepts 
modified in conformity to the peculiar character of the 
Jews, such as no human wisdom could have framed. 
He communicated to them a code of revealed laws, 
and modelled their government upon a form adapted 
to the conquest and possession of the country, and 
calculated in every respect to answer those high pur- 
poses which it was intended to fulfil. 

Having accomplished his ministry, and completed 
the Pentateuch, that work which unfolds, without any 
mysterious reserve, the wisdom of the first dispensation, 
and which opened a volume of sacred instruction to 
mankind ; Moses " in the faith" relinquished the hope 
of entering into Canaan 2 ; and in the expectation " of 
the recompense of a higher reward," resigned that life 
which had been devoted to God's service, in the 120th 
year of his age ; to be succeeded by no equal prophet, 
till the arrival of the Messiah, of whom he was a signal 
type 3 ; and who said of him to the Jews, that if they 
believed not his writings, how should they believe his 

2 Deut. i. 34—38. 

3 Ezra, or the prophet who annexed to the Pentateuch the ac- 
count of Moses's death, observes, that " no prophet had since arisen 
like unto Moses ;" meaning, perhaps, that the great prophet, the 
Messiah, whom Moses promised, was not yet arrived. Deut. xviii. 
18, 19. xxxiv. 10. 



56 OF THE PENTATEUCH. 

(Christ's) words \ Moses having in many various cir- 
cumstances of his character and eventful life, obviously 
prefigured the spiritual Redeemer of mankind 5 . 

The sepulchre of Moses, though said to have been 
" in the valley of Moab 6 ," seems to have been miracu- 
lously concealed, in order to prevent any idolatrous 
veneration of it ; his character, however, was remem- 
bered by his people, with a reverence that approached 
to superstition. By the Greeks and Romans also, and 
other Heathen nations, he was not only quoted and 
acknowledged as the most ancient lawgiver 7 , and as an 
historian of unimpeached veracity 8 ; but, by an apo- 
theosis under which the venerable characters of an- 
tiquity were usually reverenced, he was translated 

4 John v. 47. Luke xvi. 31. 

5 Euseb. Demon. Evang. lib. iii. cap. 2. Jortin's Remarks on 
Eccles. Hist. vol. i. p. 196—226. Heb. iii. 2. 

6 Deut. xxxiv. 6. Some Maronite shepherds were said to have 
found the tomb of Moses in Mount Nebo, a.b. 1565; but this 
is an idle fiction. Vide Basnage's Hist, of Jews, lib. iv. c. 18. and 
Patrick in Deut. iv. 6. St. Jude, in his epistle, speaks of a dispute 
between Michael and the Devil, concerning the body of Moses, allud- 
ing probably to a tradition received among the Jews, as possibly does 
St. Paul, when he mentions the names of Jannes and Jambres, who 
withstood Moses, and relates, that Moses said " he exceedingly 
feared and quaked" on the Mount Sinai ; since these particulars are 
not recorded in the Old Testament. Jude 9. 2 Tim. iii. 8. Heb. 
xii. 21. Rabboth, or the great Commentaries. An account of the 
dispute concerning the body of Moses, was formerly in an apocry- 
phal book, entitled FLepl ava\ri\peo)Q Mwc-ews, vide Origen. Uepl apy&v, 
lib. iii. cap. 2. 

7 Justin Martyr, Apologia I. p. 50. 67. 80. 86. Edit. Thirlb. 
Diodor. Sic. lib. i. p. 84, and Fragm. Eclog. 40. p. 543. edit. 
Wetsten. Strabo's Geogr. lib. xvi. p. 1103. Tacit. Hist. lib. v. 
Just. lib. xxxvi. cap. 2. Joseph. Antiq. lib. i. cap. 1. § 3. 

8 To this even Porphyry bore testimony. 



OF THE PENTATEUCH. 57 

among the gods, and worshipped under different 
names 9 ; for it is easy to trace the features of the 
Hebrew legislator, veiled under the personage of many 
a pagan deity, and to discern his qualities and actions 
under the borrowed attributes and conduct which 
idolatry ascribed to the objects of its veneration. So 
also were the customs, laws, and ceremonies of many 
nations, evidently derived from the Mosaic institutions '. 
Every one, however slightly conversant with the polity 
and religion of pagan antiquity, will discover in the 
Pentateuch, the sources from whence they were often 
drawn. In the heroes and benefactors consecrated by 
Heathen admiration, are described the Patriarchs and 
illustrious persons of Scripture. In the fictions of 
pagan mythology, Ave behold the disfigured relations of 
sacred history ; and the proud discoveries of philosophy 
are often but the imperfect transcript of revealed 
wisdom 2 . In short, the historians, the poets, and the 
philosophers of antiquity have enriched their several 
works with distorted accounts of circumstances reported 
in the Sacred Volume. The pages of successive writers 
are pregnant with its relations, and the names of num- 
berless authors might be produced, whose works either 
confirm the truth of the Pentateuch, or bear testimony 

9 Artaban. in Eusebii Praep. Evang. lib. 1. c. 27. Vossius. 
Bochart. Huet. Demonst. Evang. prop. iv. cap. 8, 9. 

1 Justin, cap. 39. Water] and's Charge to the Clergy of Middle- 
sex, May 19, 1731. 

2 Euseb. Praep. Evang. lib. ix. cap. 6. 12. 14, 15. lib. xiii. cap. 
12. Cyril, cont. Jul. lib. i. p. 8. edit. Spanheim. Lips. 1696. Tatian 
cont. Graec. p. 181. in Bibliotheca Patrum, torn. ii. edit. Coloniae 
Agrippinae, 1618. Joseph, cont. Apion. lib. i. § 22. p. 1345. 
Clem. Alex. Strom, lib. i. 



58 OF THE PENTATEUCH. 

to the character and pretensions of its author 3 . But 
this has been so often done, that it must be unnecessary 
to dwell on the subject here. 

In a general consideration of the character of that 
dispensation which is unfolded in the following books, 
there are some remarks which should be stated for its 
illustration. In the first place it should be observed, 
that we are authorized by the sacred writers to esteem 
it in some respects imperfect, as a particular and tem- 
porary covenant to endure only for a season 4 ; imper- 
fect, in condescension to the undisciplined stubbornness 
of the Israelites 5 , and imperfect, as elementary and 

3 If there were no translation of the Scriptures into Greek before 
that of the Septuagint, yet the Heathen writers might have derived 
much sacred intelligence from colloquial intercourse, and Plato in- 
deed professes to have so collected Phoenician and Syrian, that is 
Hebrew accounts. Vid. Plato in Cratyl. Nations appear to have 
been at first distinguished for civil and religious knowledge, in pro- 
portion to their proximity to, and communication with those coun- 
tries where the light of revelation shone. The dispersion of the 
Jews into foreign countries afterwards opened channels of information 
to the Heathen nations, and some of this people were certainly 
scattered into Greece about the time when much of the Greek 
mythology was composed. Vid. Joel iii. 6. Bochart's Phaleg. 
lib. iv. cap. 24. Grotius de Verit. lib. iii. cap. 16. Huet. prop, 
xiv. cap. 2. Bryant's Mythol. Prsef. to Shuckford's Connect. 
Edwards's Discour. vol. i. Hartley's Discourse on the Truth of the 
Christian Religion, in Watson's Tracts, vol. ii. 

4 Jerem. iii. 16. xxxi.31, 32. Heb. vii. 18, 19. viii. 7—13. ix. 10. 

5 Exod. xxxiii. 23. Deut. xxxii. 28. Ezek. xx. 25. Matt. 
xix. 8. Acts xv. 10. Gal. v. i. 1 Tim. i. 9, 10. It is a great 
mistake, however, to suppose that any ritual precepts were ordained 
by the Mosaic law, in accommodation to customs which prevailed in 
Egypt, since its design was to segregate the Israelites from all other 
nations, and to wean them from all tendencies to idolatry, and since 
it inculcated a particular abhorrence of Egyptian practices. Levit. 

1 



OF THE PENTATEUCH. 59 

figurative only of a spiritual covenant 6 . As a code of 
laws designed for the civil government of the Israelites 
it was contrived with a view to the regulation of the 
external conduct. It was framed rather with intention 
to control the lawless and disobedient, than to effect 
an inward and perfect purity of heart. 

It is to be observed, also, that as the law could not 
justify mankind from the guilt of original sin, but 
prescribed solemn expiations and atonements 7 , and as 
an obedience to carnal ordinances could not be perfect 
or satisfactory, the Mosaic dispensation did not stipulate 
for those rewards which are offered through Christ 8 , 
though it held out intimations of immortality, and 
prepared mankind for the gracious promises which were 
to be made by the gospel. As a covenant of works, it 
required undeviating obedience under the heaviest 
denunciations of wrath 9 , inflicted severe penalties for 
acts of irreverence to God \ and made no allowance 
for unintentional offences ; not calculated like the 
gospel, to proffer gracious terms of reconciliation and 
favour, but to point out the condition of man obnoxious 
to God's wrath 2 , and the insufficiency of his endeavours 
to propitiate forgiveness, and to atone for sin 3 . 

xviii. 3. Circumcision was certainly a divine appointment first 
observed as a religious rite by Abraham. Gen. xvii. 11. 

6 Heb. vii. 18, 19. Gal. iv. 3—9. 

7 Exod. xxx. 10 — 15. Levit. xvi. 34. 

8 Rom.iii.20. viii. 3. Gal. ii. 16. Hi. 21. Heb. viii. 6. ix. 14, 15. 

9 Deut. xxvii. 26. Gal. iii. 10. 

1 Exod. xxxi. 14. Levit. xx. 1 — 5. xxiii. 29, 30. Numb. 
xix. 13. 

2 1 John i. 7. Rom. iv. 15. viii. 2. 2 Cor. iii. 6—9. Col. ii. 14. 

3 Rom. iii. 19, 20. vii. 5—11. Gal. iii. 22. 



60 OF THE PENTATEUCH. 

It is likewise obvious to remark, that Moses, though 
appointed to communicate a divine law, must, with 
respect to the Israelites, be contemplated as a human 
legislator. He addresses them, indeed, as a state 
subject to a theocracy ; but God had deigned to be 
considered in the light of a temporary king to his chosen 
people 4 ; Moses, therefore, speaking as the legislator 
of a civil government, and delivering his laws to the 
people considered in their collective national character, 
enforces them chiefly by temporal sanctions ; on motives 
of present reward and present punishment; thus an- 
nexing civil benefits to the observance, and civil 
penalties to the breach of political laws, as respec- 
tively their proper and proportioned consequences 5 . 
To the dull apprehensions, likewise, and sensual minds 
of the Israelites, promises and threats of speedy ac- 
complishment were necessary, and best calculated to 
control them, in subserviency to those laws, of which 
the violation was immediately hostile to the declared 
intention of God, in the constitution of the Hebrew 

4 Exod. xix. 6. 1 Sam. xii. 12. 17. 19. Isaiah xxxiii. 22. Hagg. 
ii. 4, 5. Warburt. Div. Legat. lib. v. § 3. 

5 Moses had no occasion to reveal in precise terms the immortality 
of the soul, which the Israelites as well as all other people believed, 
and which had been implied in God's promises to the patriarchs. 
La Bleterie, in a note to the Caesars of Julian, well observes, that 
" No nation is or was persuaded that all ends with death. No 
nation has received from its lawgivers the belief of another life ; 
the lawgivers have every where found it.— The persuasion of the 
immortality of the soul, as well as that of the existence of God, is the 
tenet of mankind, and the faith of nature." — Duncombe's Select 
Works of Julian, vol. 1. p. 196-7. Porter's Evid. of Fundamental 
Truths. 



OF THE PENTATEUCH. 61 

polity. Moses also, resting on the miraculous proofs of 
a divine origin which accompanied the promulgation 
of the law, and confident of the Divine support in its 
establishment, was not under any necessity of recom- 
mending its acceptance by a direct appeal to those high 
and important inducements which might have been 
derived from the consideration of a future life and 
judgment. As the minister, however, of a divine reve- 
lation, as a teacher of religion, (in which light also 
Moses must be contemplated,) he undoubtedly inti- 
mated higher encouragements than those of temporal 
reward, and endeavoured to animate his people by the 
display of a more glorious prospect. He did not ab- 
solutely propose an eternal recompence to the righteous, 
as this was to be imparted on the ground of faith in 
the atonement, but he held out the expectation of 
immortality to those who relied on God's promises. 

Hence it is that Moses so particularly describes the 
attributes and designs of God e ; so strongly insists on the 
advantage of obedience, and occasionally adverts to 
that final retribution, which should take place after 
death 7 . It was, however, not so much by the positive 
declarations, as by the figurative promises of the law, 
that Moses held out the consideration of eternal recom- 
pence to his people ; for it was consistent with the 
typical character of the first dispensation, which was 
significant in all its parts, to shadow out, rather than 
directly reveal those spiritual rewards, which were to 

6 Exod. iii. 6. corap. with Luke xx. 37. Gen. i. 27. ii. 7. iii. 15. 
22. xxii. Numb. xxiv. 17- Deut. xxxii. 29. Heb. xi. 19. 

7 Deut. viii. 16. xxxii. 29. where DnnnK should be translated 
their last, or final state. Numb, xxiii. 10. Deut. xxxii. 29. 



62 OF THE PENTATEUCH. 

be annexed as more exalted sanctions to a higher 
covenant 8 ; and it is evident that the promises of the 
Mosaic law were the figures and representations of 
" better things to come 9 ," as also that its threats were 
indicative of stronger denunciations, not only from their 
correspondent and allusive character \ but also from 
the interpretations of the prophets ; and it is certain 
that if the sensual and duller ranks were unable to 
discover the full extent of the promises, yet the more 
instructed and more enlightened persons understood 
and confided in their spiritual import 2 . Still, however, 
it must be repeated, Moses does not ground his laws 
on spiritual sanctions, but rather has recourse to the 
strongest and most affecting motives of present con- 
sideration, urging God's threat " of visiting the iniquity 
of the fathers upon the children 3 ." The dispensation 

8 Heb. viii. 6. Though the law was designed rather to convince 
mankind of sin, by the severity of its requisitions, than to impart any 
distinct assurance of immortality ; yet, nevertheless, salvation was 
unquestionably to be obtained in virtue of Christ's atonement, by 
those who lived under the terms of the old covenant. Luke x. 25. 
28. xxv. 42, 43. Rom. iii. 19, 20. Gal. iii. 22. 

9 Ps. cxxxiii. 3. Deut. xxx. 15 — 19. comp. with Luke x. 25 — 28. 

1 Hieron. Epist. 50. ad Paulin. torn. iv. p. 570. 

2 Heb. xi. 8 — 16. The Mosaic covenant included that made to 
Abraham, which was a figurative counterpart of the gospel covenant, 
and of which the promises were certainly spiritual, and in the renewal 
of this covenant, together with that made at Sinai, Moses blends 
temporal and spiritual promises. Vid. Gen. xvii. 7. Deut. xxix. 
13. xxx. Gal. iii. 8. 17. Jude 14, 15. Acts xxiv. 14, 15, &c. 
Tacitus states, that the Jews believed in the immortality of the soul. 
See Hist. 1. 5. § 5, p. 549. Edit. Amstel. 1685. Joseph, cont. Apion. 
lib. 2. § 30. p. 1383. Edit. Hudson. 

3 Exod. xx. 5. Deut. v. 9. Josh. xxiv. 19. This denunciation 



OF THE PENTATEUCH. 63 

was designed to illustrate the moral government of God, 
under a peculiar administration in this world, while the 
Gospel was intended to reveal the principles on which 
the Divine Being will regulate his judgments in a 
future state. 

It remains to be remarked, with respect to the laws 
delivered to the people of Israel, that some were of a 
confined and temporary, others of a general and per- 
manent nature ; some being calculated to preserve the 
people from idolatry, and others to keep up a holy re- 
verence for God. They are usually distinguished into 
ceremonial, judicial, and moral. 

The ceremonial and the judicial laws are in the 
books of the Pentateuch joined together, as the He- 
brew religion and polity were built up together in one 
fabrick. These laws as adapted to the particular state 
and government of the Israelites 4 , and often incapable 
of general application 5 , are collectively represented as 
not obligatory on other nations. Many of the laws 
are indeed pronounced by Moses, to be " laws and 
ordinances for ever," " through all generations G ," and 

against idolatry applied to punishments only in the present life, for 
God afterwards declared, that as to future retribution, " the son 
should not bear the iniquity of the father." Ezek. xviii. 20. 

4 Circumcision, as a rite of distinction, was useless when the 
barriers between the Jew and Gentile were thrown down ; its figurative 
intention to promote purity of heart was preserved in the gospel 
precepts, and its actual practice in hot countries, as a salutary ob- 
servance, was not forbidden, or discouraged, but as it implied a 
subserviency to the ritual law. 

5 The number of the priests and Levites was limited. All nations 
could not be served by the Aaronical priesthood, neither could they 
resort three times a year to one place. 

6 Exod. xii. 14—17. xxxi. 16. xl. 15. Levit. iii. 17. vi. 18. vii. 



64 OF THE PENTATEUCH. 

hence the Jews believe, that they never shall be abol- 
ished 7 , but it seems evident, that these expressions 
must be understood to mean only, that such laws should 
not be liable to abrogation by any human authority, 
and that they should continue till they had fulfilled 
their object ; but by no means that they should never 
be repealed by the authority, on which they were first 
established 8 . 

The ceremonial laws were unquestionably transient 
institutions, designed to intimate and foreshow evan- 
gelical appointments. As, therefore, in their nature, 
figurative of future particulars, they have passed away 
on the accomplishment of those things, of which they 
were the shadows 9 . Ritual observances are now un- 
profitable as spiritual righteousness is introduced \ and 
the Levitical priesthood being changed, its appendant 
laws are changed also 2 . The end of the ceremonial 
laws is fulfilled, and they remain only as the symbols of 
a well-concerted scheme ; the prophetic testimonies that 
support a more spiritual covenant. 

The judicial laws, also, as far as they respected the 
Israelites as a civil society, and were contrived with 

36. x. 9. xxiii. 14—21—31 — 41. xxiv. 3. Numb. xv. 15. 
xix. 10. 

7 Vid. Maimonides More Nevoch. par. ii. cap. 39. p. 301. Edit. 
Buxtorf. Basil. 1629. 

8 The ceremonial laws were sometimes dispensed with, as was cir- 
cumcision in the wilderness, where it was of but little use, as a rite 
of distinction. So David eat of the shew- bread, and our Saviour 
justified his conduct. Vid. 1 Sam. xxi. 6. Matt. xii. 3, 4. 

9 Coloss. ii. 17. 

1 Rom. vii. 6. Heb. vii. 18, 19. 1 Pet. ii. 5. Barnab. Epist. 
sect. 9. p. 26. Pat. Apost. Cotelerii. Edit. Amstel. 1724. 

2 Heb. vii. 12. 



OF THE PENTATEUCH. 65 

regard to the peculiar and appropriate condition of that 
people ; in as much as they were suited to the exigence 
of a time, and devised with a view to the accomplishment 
of certain purposes now effected, are no longer binding 
as positive laws on us. 

Christ did not indeed formally, and in express terms, 
repeal any part of the Mosaic law ; but whatever was 
accomplished, did necessarily expire. The Apostles, it 
is true, though they regarded the ceremonial law as a 
bondage from which they were freed 3 , still continued 
to observe some of its precepts. This, however, was by 
no means as a necessary service, but in compliance 
with the prejudices of the proselyte Jews 4 . As the 
force of education and long habit could not be immedi- 
ately counteracted, the Jews were suffered to continue 
in the observance of those ritual precepts, which, if 
obsolete, were at least harmless, while they were not 
set up in opposition to the pretensions of the gospel 
covenant. 

The Apostles, likewise, living under a government 
which was founded on the Mosaic establishment, and 
which had the judicial laws incorporated into the very 
frame of its constitution, could not, without violating 
the duties of good citizens, and without offending 



3 Acts xxi. 21—27. 1 Cor. ix. 20. Gal. iv. 1—5. 

4 Acts xvi. 3. St. Paul circumcised Timotheus, " because of 
the Jews which were in those quarters." In a council previously held, 
the Apostles deliberated, indeed, concerning the necessity of circum- 
cision ; but they certainly understood, that with respect to the Gen- 
tiles at least, there could be no obligation to observe the law, as far 
as it was of a temporary and local nature. They appear to have 
assembled only to ratify by an unanimous decision, the sentiments 
of Paul and Barnabas. Vid. Acts xv. 1 — 29. 

F 



66 OF THE PENTATEUCH. 

against the authority of the civil magistrate, refuse to 
be subservient to the regulations of that polity ; they 
must have perceived, however, after they were enlight- 
ened by the descent of the Holy Spirit, that as far as 
the civil were interwoven with the religious institutions, 
they should give way to evangelical appointments. 
They must have understood, that as the distinctions 
between Jew and Gentile were to cease, the whole 
of that economy which was contrived to keep the 
Israelites a separate people, was useless, and inconsistent 
with the design of Christianity. Yet they knew that 
it was only by the gradual operation of the Christian 
spirit, that the Jews could be weaned from a long 
established obedience of the law, and that in fact till 
the constitution of their country should be changed or 
dissolved, such obedience was in some degree necessary. 
The Apostles, therefore, only then reprobated the 
advocates for the observance of the Mosaic law, when 
those advocates sought to enforce it as generally neces- 
sary, and as a means of justification 4 : they taught that 
salvation was to be obtained without the law 5 , and 
expressly exempted the Gentile converts from the 
necessity of respecting any precepts but those which 
were entirely moral, or partook of a moral character 6 . 



4 Augustin. cont. Faustum, lib. xix. cap. 17. Opera, torn. 8. p. 
218, 219. edit. Antwerp, 1700. Just. Martyr, Dialog, pars i. c. 
264. edit. Thirl. Constit. Apostol. lib. vi. cap. 11, 12 — 20, 21, 22. 
Rom. x. 5. 

5 Acts xiii. 39. Rom. iii. 28. ix. 32. Gal. ii. 16. 

6 Acts xv. 10, 11. This declaration was first made in favour of 
the Gentile nations, (vid. Acts xv. 19.) who had neither prejudices 
nor civil regulations to control them ; but the Gospel liberty was to 
extend equally to the Jews, when they should be released from the 



OF THE PENTATEUCH. 67 

As to the moral laws contained in the Decalogue, 
or occasionally interspersed through the judicial and 
ceremonial code, it is evident that these, as having in 
themselves an intrinsic excellence and universal pro- 
priety, and as founded on the relations which eter- 
nally subsist, as well with reference to our depend- 
ence on God, as between man and man reciprocally, 
must remain in perpetual force : for the Mosaic law 
was annihilated, only so far as it was of a figurative 
and temporary character. 

The Ten Commandments which were first given, as 
containing the primary principles of all law, were 
doubtless introduced with so much majesty and solem- 
nity, that they might retain an everlasting and irrever- 
sible authority, which no time should alter, no change 
of circumstance annul or invalidate. They were uttered 
by the voice of God, before the whole multitude of 
Israel ; were written twice by God's own finger 7 ; and 
are obviously distinguished from the other laws which 
were given to Moses only, which were written by him, 
and which were moulded in conformity to the peculiar 
condition and circumstances of the Israelites. Moses, 
likewise, (as has been observed by Hooker 8 ,) evidently 
discriminates the moral from the ceremonial laws, for 

influence of habit, and the injunctions of civil authority. Rom. 
vii. 4. viii. 15. Indeed, after the destruction of Jerusalem, most of 
the Hebrew converts to Christianity renounced the Mosaic law 
without hesitation : a part only adhered to it, as the Nazarenes, 
Ebionites, &c. Vide Mosheim. de Rebus Christ. Ant. Constant, 
sec. 2. § 38. note *. 

7 Exod. xxxi. 18. That is, by God's immediate power, and not 
by the act of man. Vid. Maimon. More Nevoc. par. i. cap. 66. p. 
119. edit. Buxtorf. 

8 Hooker's Eccles. Polit. book iii, p. 146-7. edit. 1705. 

f2 



68 OF THE PENTATEUCH. 

in his recapitulation of the law, in the book of Deutero- 
nomy, he says, " the Lord spake unto you out of the 
midst of the fire, ye heard the voice of the words, but 
saw no similitude, only a voice, and he declared unto 
you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, 
the ten Commandments ; and wrote them on two 
tables of stone," (durable monuments to intimate their 
unperishable authority) ; " and the Lord commanded 
me at the same time to teach you the statutes and 
judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither 
ye go over to possess it 9 ." These commandments, then, 
given for the advantage of all mankind, founded on prin- 
ciples of invariable and universal propriety, communi- 
cated, it should seem, in some instances before the pro- 
mulgation of the Mosaic law ! , and stamped with the 
two great characters of Christian excellence, gratitude 
to God, and love to man, are properly inscribed on ever- 
lasting tablets, in the Christian church, and must be ob- 
served as long as any reverence for the Deity shall exist. 
The other moral laws, which are intermixed with 
the ceremonial and judicial precepts, and which have 
entirely a general character 2 , may be considered as 

9 Deut. iv. 10—14. v. 

1 The morality of the fourth Commandment, its primaeval insti- 
tution, and its perpetual force, (though with a change as to the day) 
have been considered as unquestionable as the authority of any 
other part of the Decalogue. 

2 Of these there are many. Vid. Exod. xxi. 19, 20. 22. xxii. 
1. 4, 5, 6. 10, 11—16. 19, 20—22. 26—28. xxiii. 1—9. 12. 
Levit. xvii. 7. xix. 9, 10. 14. 17, 18. 29. 35, 36. xx. 9, 10. 17. 
xxiii. 22. xxiv. 18. Numb. xxx. 2. Deut. i. 16, 17. xi. 1. xiv. 
29. xv. 7, 8. 11. xvii. 6. xxii. 1—3. 14— 21. xxv. 14, 15. It 
may be deemed superfluous to contend for these, since the same 
principles are inculcated in the Decalogue, but every injunction 



OF THE PENTATEUCH. 69 

corollaries from, or commentaries on, the Decalogue. 
These, though blended with others of a local and tem- 
porary nature, and scattered through a collection super- 
seded, and virtually repealed, have, as revelations of 
the Divine will, (which is ever uniform in the same 
circumstances,) as well as from their intrinsic character, 
a claim to perpetual observance, as much as those of 
the Decalogue. They were delivered, it is true, with 
less awful circumstances than were the ten Command- 
ments, which summed up in a compendious form the 
whole excellence of the moral law ; but the other laws 
had not the less authority, because imparted by the 
mediation of Moses, at the particular request of the 
people, who trembled at the voice of God 3 ; and no 
argument against the perpetuity of these secondary 
laws can be drawn from the direction added, (chiefly 
for the sake of those that were of a local and temporary 
nature) to observe them in the land of Judea ; since 
those of the two tables, though indisputably of universal 
obligation, were delivered with a similar application, 
as appears from the sanction annexed to the fifth 
Commandment 4 . 

which illustrates the moral duties, and dilates moral precepts, is 
important. The law and the prophets are not useless, though we 
possess the " two Commandments on which they hang;" nor is the 
Decalogue superfluous, notwithstanding the Gospel hath furnished 
a more perfect rule, and declared, that all the law is fulfilled in one 
word. Matt. xxii. 40. Gal. v. 14. Besides, the dignity of the 
Mosaic law is affected by these considerations. 

3 Exod. xx. 19. 

4 This annexed motive of temporal reward, as well as the ex- 
ordium prefixed to the first Commandment, and the commemoration 
added to the fourth, in Deut. v. 15, had an appropriate application 
when addressed to the Jews, which, however, by no means affected 



70 OF THE PENTATEUCH. 

No part of the law, as far as it is strictly moral, is 
abrogated by the gospel, any more than are the com- 
mandments of the Decalogue. The old dispensation 
is declared invalid only as a covenant of salvation, and 
it is superseded in Christ, only as far as it is accom- 
plished. Jesus came not to destroy, but to fulfil the 
law 5 , and its moral design is still unaccomplished, and 
must so continue till the end of time, for " till heaven 
and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no 
wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled 6 ." Our 
Saviour added, still speaking of the law under one 
general consideration, "whosoever shall break one of 
these least Commandments, and shall teach men so, he 
shall be called the least in the kingdom of Heaven ; but 
whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be 
called great in the kingdom of Heaven ;" and he else- 
where connected the promise of life with the observance 
of the moral law 7 . The apostles were so far from con- 
sidering as abolished any part of the Mosaic law, which 
had a moral character, that they expressly ratified and 
enjoined as necessary, injunctions which were not con- 
tained in the Decalogue, but which had only a moral 
tendency 8 . 

the universality and perpetuity of the Decalogue ; and if the direc- 
tion which accompanied other laws be conceived to have restricted 
the observance to the land of Canaan, it can apply only to those of 
a transitory nature, since the others might with equal reason have 
been observed elsewhere. 

5 Matt. v. 17. 6 Matt. v. 18. Luke xvi. 17. 

7 Matt. v. 19. x. 27, 28. 

8 Acts xv. The Apostles in the first council holden at Jerusalem, 
after having pronounced the ceremonial law to be burthensome and 
unnecessary, enjoined upon the Gentiles, in the name of " the Holy 
Ghost," an observance of the Mosaic law, where it had a general 



OF THE PENTATEUCH. 71 

It follows, then, from these considerations, that 
though the law be abrogated, as a covenant insufficient 
and preparatory 9 , though its ceremonies have vanished, 
as the veil and covering of spiritual things, and its 
judicial institutions are dissolved with the economy of 
the Hebrew government, yet its moral pillars remain 
unshaken. The law, then, is abolished only so far as 
fulfilled and superseded by a more excellent dispensa- 
tion. As its precepts prefigured this, they have termi- 
nated ; as its appointments prepared for this, they were 

character and moral tendency, and in the very terms, as well as in 
the spirit of the. Mosaic law, (considered distinctly from the Deca- 
logue) they prescribed unto the Gentiles " as necessary things," that 
they should " abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, 
and from things strangled, and from fornication ;" inasmuch as these 
were descriptive of a disposition to idolatry, and adopted in opposi- 
tion to the service of God. St. James concludes his advice, by 
intimating, that these instructions were permanent precepts of 
the law of Moses which was " read in every city." Vid. Acts xv. 
1. 7. 10, 11. 19, 20, 21. 24. 28, 29. St. Paul, in his epistles, as- 
serts the abrogation of the law, only as set up in opposition to 
the gospel, to which it was " a schoolmaster ;" in comparison of 
which it was " elementary and beggarly ;" but in reference to 
which, in its moral and spiritual character, it was " holy, just, 
and good." Vid. Rom. iii. 20. 24. 28. 31. viii. 4. Gal. iii. 24. 
iv. 9. 1 Tim. i. 8 — 10. v. 18. 1 Cor. ix. 9, 10. where a Mosaic pre- 
cept not in the Decalogue is said to be spoken " altogether for our 
sakes." Vid. Deut. xxv. 4. In this, as in other instances, where 
a moral import is couched under a figurative precept, we may say 
with St. Ambrose, " evacuatur in Christo, non vetus Testamentum, 
sed velamen ejus." Epist. 76. Deut. xxii. 10. Rom. vii. 14. See 
lastly Acts xxiii. 5. where St. Paul admits the authority of a 
general precept, delivered in Exod. xxii. 28. 

9 We are freed, also, from the curses of the law, " the ministra- 
tion of death." Vid. Gal. iii. 13. 2 Cor. iii. 7, but not from its 
directive authority. 



72 OF THE PENTATEUCH. 

exclusively confined to the Hebrew nation ; as its com- 
mandments corresponded with the moral designs of the 
gospel, they were incorporated with, and should be ob- 
served under, the Christian covenant. 

The Mosaic dispensation, inasmuch as it was re- 
stricted to one nation, and contrived to effect its pur- 
pose, by partial regulations, cannot be supposed to 
have been productive of that liberal and diffusive 
benevolence which characterizes the gospel, a cove- 
nant designed to embrace all nations, and to pro- 
mote universal love. But though the peculiar privi- 
leges, which the first covenant conferred on the Israel- 
ites, led them to entertain an arrogant and unreason- 
able conceit, it is certain that the Mosaic law recom- 
mended throughout as much benevolence as was con- 
sistent with that distinction which it was intended to 
promote. The principles on which it is framed, may 
be always adopted with advantage, since it breathes, 
throughout, a fine spirit of moral equity ; of merciful 
regard to strangers, debtors, bondsmen \ and even to 
the brute creation 2 ; and tends, by its literal and 
figurative precepts 3 , to awaken benevolence and cha- 
ritable dispositions. It is deserving of remark, also, 
that there is a moral retribution observed in the regu- 
lation of the Mosaic law, the heavier transgressions 
against God, as murder, adultery, and a violation of 
the Sabbath, being punished with death, while offences 



1 Exod. xxi. 2. 7, 10. 20, 21. 26, 27. Levit. xix. 14—32. 
xxiv. 21. xxv. Deut. v. 14, 15. xv. 1 — 12. Maimon. More 
Nevoch. par. iii. cap. 39. p. 455. Edit. Buxtorf. 1629. 

2 Exod. xxiii. 12. Deut. v. 14. xxii. 6, 7. 

3 Deut. xxii. 10. xxv, 4. 



OF THE PENTATEUCH. 73 

of a minor nature affecting men, have a milder charac- 
ter, and strict evidence is required in the administra- 
tion of its decrees. 

The five books of Moses present us with a compen- 
dious history of the world, from the creation to the 
arrival of the Israelites at the verge of Canaan, a period 
of above 2*250 years. It is a wide description, gra- 
dually contracted ; an account of one nation, preceded 
by a general sketch of the first state of mankind. The 
books are written in pure Hebrew, with an admirable 
diversity of style, always well adapted to the subject, 
yet characterised with the stamp of the same author ; 
they are all evidently parts of the same work, and 
mutually strengthen and illustrate each other. They 
blend revelation and history in one point of view, 
impart laws, and describe their execution, exhibit pro- 
phecies, and relate their accomplishment. 

Besides the Pentateuch, Moses is said to have com- 
posed many of the Psalms, and some have, though 
improperly, attributed to him all those between the 
90th and 100th inclusive. He appears, however, to 
have been the first writer who was inspired in the pro- 
duction of sacred hymns, and those contained in the 
xvth chapter of Exodus, and the xxxiid of Deuteronomy, 
afford very beautiful models of his enraptured poetry. 
The book of Job has been, with some probability, sup- 
posed to have been written or translated by Moses, 
and many apocryphal works have been ascribed to him, 
by writers desirous of recommending their works under 
the sanction of his name. Cedrenus transferred into 
his history a book, which passed under the name of 
Moses, styled Little Genesis 4 , and which contained 

* AE7TTiyEV£ffl£. 



74 OF THE PENTATEUCH. 

many spurious particulars. It was extant in Hebrew 
in the time of St. Jerom, and was cited by him, but 
condemned as apocryphal, by the council of Trent. 
Others attribute to him an apocalypse, from which they 
pretend that St. Paul copied in ver. 15 of ch. vi. to the 
Galatians ; but these, as well as those entitled the 
ascension, and the assumption of Moses, and some 
mysterious books, were probably fabricated by the 
Sethians, or Sethedians, an ancient sect of Gnostic 
heretics, who pretended to be derived from Seth, and 
to possess several books of the Patriarchs 5 . 

5 Athanasii Synops. Sac. Script, torn. 2. p. 154. Edit. Paris, 
1627. 



OF THE 



BOOK OF GENESIS. 



This, which is the first book in order of the Penta- 
teuch, is called Beresith in those Hebrew copies, which 
adopt the division of the Pentateuch into five books ! . 
This word signifies in the beginning, and being prefixed, 
it gave rise to the Hebrew custom of denominating the 
sacred books from their initial words respectively. The 
book, however, is usually entitled Genesis, from a 
Greek word 2 , which imports generation. It was writ- 
ten by Moses, as the concurrent testimonies of all ages 
declare 3 , (according to some, in the land of Midian, 

1 Some private copies only are divided, those used in the Jewish 
synagogues are not. 

2 Teveaig. Generation, production. It is remarkable that the 
New Testament begins with the same word, Bij3\og yepiffeiog 'l-qaov. 

3 Du Pin, Diss. Prel. Sect. 1. Huet. The mention which is 
made in chap. xii. 6. xiii. 7. of the Canaanites and Perizzites does 
not prove that the passages were written after the expulsion of those 
nations, as they import, probably, that these nations were thus in 
early possession of it. The mention, also, and enumeration of kings 
that reigned in Edom before there reigned any over the children of 
Israel," xxxvi. 31, have been thought by some to refer proleptically 
to kings, who, according to Divine promise, were to reign over 



76 OF THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

where Moses fed the flocks of his father-in-law, in the 
wilderness,) with design, it is said, to comfort the 
Hebrews in their servitude, by the example of con- 
stancy in their fathers, and by a display of the oracles 
and promises of God ; as particularly of that remark- 
able revelation to Abraham, that " his seed should be 
a stranger in a land not theirs, should serve them, and 
be afflicted 400 years, and that God should judge that 
nation whom they should serve, and that afterwards 
they should come out with great substance V Euse- 
bius 5 seems to intimate his respect for this opinion, 
but Theodoret 6 and others suppose that the book was 
written in the wilderness after the promulgation of the 
law. A third hypothesis has been offered from the 
Rabbi Moses Ben Nachman, that God dictated to 
Moses all the contents of the Book during the forty 
days that he was permitted to have a communication 
with the Deity on Mount Sinai, and that at his descent 

Israel, ch. xxxv. 11. Deut. xvii. 14; others imagine that they ap- 
plied to Moses, who was king in Jeshurun, Deut. xxxiii. 5, and 
others ; it is possible, however, that the remark was originally a 
marginal note which crept into the text ; or that the account of the 
kings of Edom, which corresponds with that in the Book of Chro- 
nicles, was inserted by some prophet, or authorised person. See 
also Gen. ii. 11, 12 ; and Witsius' Miscellanea Sacra, torn. i. lib. ii. 
c. 4. The mention of Hebron in xiii. c. 18, and xxiii. c. 2, may 
have been inserted afterwards ; see also xii. c. 6. 

4 Gen. xv. 13, 14. From the birth of Isaac to the deliverance 
from Egypt were 405 years. The 430 years mentioned in Exodus 
xii. 40, include the twenty-five years of Abraham's sojourning in 
Canaan, before the birth of Isaac. Vid. Patrick. 

5 Euseb. Prasp. Evan. lib. ii. cap. 7. p. 52. 

6 Theodoret. Qusestiones in Genesin. Opera, torn. i. p. 1642. 
Bedae Venerabilis Expositio in Genes, lib. i. c. 2. Lond. 1693. 



OF THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 77 

he committed the whole to writing. It is, however, as 
impossible as it is of little consequence, to determine 
which of these opinions is best founded. It is suffi- 
cient for us to know, that Moses was assisted by the 
spirit of infallible truth, in the composition of this 
sacred work 7 , which he deemed a proper introduction 
to the laws and judgments delivered in the subsequent 
books, as exhibiting the ground upon which the divine 
claims to worship are established, and the considera- 
tions upon which his statutes were made, when God 
is represented as the Creator to whom all obedience is 
due. 

The unity and attributes which are ascribed to the 
Almighty, though directly opposed to the idolatrous 
notions which prevailed, are such as are agreeable to 
the perfections of God, while the description which 
Moses gives in his book concerning the creation, as re- 
lating to circumstances, which occurred previously to 
the existence of mankind, could be derived only from 
immediate revelation 8 . It was received by the Jews 
with full conviction of its truth, on the authority of 
that inspiration under which Moses was known to act. 
When the work was first delivered, many persons 
then living must have been competent to decide on 
the fidelity with which he relates those events which 
were subsequent to the creation. They must have 
heard of and believed the remarkable incidents in the 
lives of the Patriarchs, the prophecies which they 



7 Rom. iv. 3. Gal. in. 8. Jam. ii. 23. 

8 Origen, Homil. 1 in Genesin. Opera, vol. ii. p. 52. Edit. 
Par. 1732. 



78 OF THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

uttered, and the actions which they performed ; for the 
longevity of man in the earlier ages of the world, ren- 
dered tradition, in some measure the criterion of truth. 
In the days of Moses, the channels of information must 
have been as yet uncorrupted; for though ages had 
already elapsed, even 2432 years before the birth of 
the sacred historian, yet those relations were easily 
ascertained, which might have been conveyed by seven 
persons from Adam to Moses ; and that the traditions 
were secure from error, we shall immediately be 
convinced, if we consider that Methusalem was 340 
years old when Adam died, and that he lived till the 
year of the flood, when Noah had attained 600 years 9 . 
In like manner Shem conveyed tradition from Noah to 
Abraham, for he conversed with both a considerable 
time. Isaac, also, the son of Abraham, lived to in- 
struct Joseph in the history of his predecessors, and 
Amram, the father of Moses, was contemporary with 
Joseph 1 . The Israelites, then, must have been able, 
by tradition, to judge how far the Mosaic account 

9 Adam died, a.m. 930, 126 years only before the birth of Noah, 
and therefore must have been seen by many of Noah's contempora- 
ries. Lamech, the father of Noah, had certainly seen Adam and his 
children, being born fifty-six years before Adam's death ; and Noah 
himself might have seen several memorials existing, to prove the 
truth of those events afterwards recorded by Moses, for Noah died 
only two years before the birth of Abraham ; and Isaac might have 
seen Shem and Salah, who conversed with Noah many years. 

1 The tradition then was conveyed through Adam, through Me- 
thuselah, Noah, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, and Amram to 
Moses, seven intermediate persons. This account of the longevity 
of mankind, in the first ages of the world, is confirmed by Manetho, 
Berosus, Hestiasus, &c. 



OF THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 79 

was consistent with truth 2 . If the memory of man 
reached beyond the period assigned to the creation, 
they must have disbelieved the Mosaic history; but 
if, through so small a number of immediate prede- 
cessors, they could trace up the origin of mankind 
to Adam, w T e need not wonder at the implicit vene- 
ration which ratified the records of the sacred his- 
torian ; which accepted a revelation, confirmed by every 
received account, and stamped by every sanction of 
divine authority. The sacred character of the book 
is established also by the internal evidence of its in- 
spiration ; by a detail of the creation which carries 
with it the presumption and the marks of truth ; by 
the several predictions afterwards fully accomplished ; 
and, lastly, by our Saviour and his apostles, who have 
cited from it at least twenty-seven passages verbatim in 
the New Testament, and thirty-eight according to the 
sense 3 . 

Genesis contains the history of 2369 years to the 
death of Joseph, or thereabouts, if we follow the ac- 
count of the ages of the Patriarchs, and suppose the 
flood to have happened about 1656 years after the 
creation 4 . 

2 Euseb. Prsep. Evang. 1. vii. c. 6—8. p. 304. Edit. Par. 1628. 

3 As Rivet has elaborately calculated. 

4 The creation of the world began, according to Usher, Oc- 
tober 23, 4004 years before the birth of Christ, if we follow the 
Hebrew text. The Septuagint version places it 5872, and the 
Samaritan 4700 before the vulgar sera. The Septuagint reckons 
2262 years before the flood ; the Samaritan only 1307. Vid. Jack- 
son's Chron. Tab. Aug. Civit. Dei, lib. xii. cap. 10. p. 308. Edit. 
Par. 1685. Newton's Hist, of Antedil. World, p. 98. Strauchius, 



80 OF THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

The extended accounts of the Chaldean, Egyptian, 
Chinese, and Hindu Chronology, which reach far be- 
yond all bounds of probability 5 , and the magnified 
calculations of some other nations are now justly con- 
sidered as the fictions of national vanity, or the ex- 
aggerations of erroneous computation. They are often 
in themselves contradictory 6 , and utterly inconsistent 
with all observations on the appearance of nature ; all 
philosophical inquiry ; and the advancement of man- 
kind in arts, sciences, and refinement. These impro- 
bable fabrications are delivered by authors who lived 
long after Moses ; their veracity is impeached in other 
instances ; and their general accounts are enveloped in 
fable, and tinctured by credulity. The learned Halley 
has observed, that the oldest astronomical observa- 
tions made by the Egyptians, of which we have any 

Brev. Chron. translated by Sault, p. 166. 176, &c. Capel. Chron, 
Sac. in Appar. Walton. Some place the creation about the time of 
the vernal equinox, since Moses and the sacred writers reckon their 
first month, Abib, from that time. (Vid. also Virgil, Georg= II. 
1. 536 et seq.) but this was in memory of their deliverance from 
Egypt. The first month in civil calculations was the first after the 
autumnal equinox : this was called Tisri, and answers to part of our 
September. 

5 The Babylonians reckoned up 33,000 years ; the Chaldeans, in 
the time of Cicero, talked of 47,000 ; and Manetho, jealous for the 
reputation of his country, carried back his chronological accounts to 
36,525 years. Vid. Cicer. de Divin. lib. i. Bryant's Mythol. vol. 3. 
Petav. &c. Maurice's History of Hindostan. 

6 Manetho professes to have transcribed his Dynasties from some 
pillars of Hermes Trismegistus. As Sanchoniatho also derived his 
Theology from Hermes, different accounts must be supposed to have 
been drawn from the same source. Vid. Stilling. Orig. Sac. lib. i. 
cap. 2. The fountain, or the streams, must have been corrupt. 

1 



OF THE BOOK OF. GENESIS. 81 

account at this day, were later than 300 years before 
Christ 7 . 

The Chaldsean calculations are unworthy of atten- 
tion, since they contradict the account of the flood, and 
are quite irreconcileable with the general testimony of 
ancient history; and the chimerical accounts of the 
Chinese, written in hieroglyphics, and rescued imper- 
fectly from destruction, cannot properly be produced 
in support of any theory, repugnant to more authentic 
chronicles 8 , much less can they be suffered to invali- 
date the chronology of the Scriptures. The incredible 
and contradictory accounts which these 9 nations have 

7 Sanchoniatho, the Phoenician Historian, according to the most 
extended accounts of Porphyry, flourished long after Moses, proba- 
bly not less than two centuries. Manetho and Berosus lived not 
more than 300 years before Christ. Vid. Bochart. Geogr. Sac. part 
2. lib. ii. cap. 17. p. 855. Edit. Cadomi, 1646. Scaliger Not. in 
Eusebii Chronicon, p. 12. et Canon Isagoge, lib. iii. apud Thesaurum 
Temporum. Edit. Amst. 1658. Praeparat. Evangelic, lib. x. cap. 
4. 9. Diodorus Biblioth. Hist, lib.i. Lactantius de Origin. Erroris, 
lib. ii. cap, 11. Stillingfleet Origines Sacrae, book i. ch. ii. § 4. 
Vossius de Idol. lib. i. cap. 28. Wootton's Reflect, on Ant. and 
Mod. Learning, and Stackhouse's Hist, of Bible, book i. ch. 5. 

8 One of the Chinese Emperors, about 213 years before Christ, 
ordered all their historical records to be destroyed. The Chinese 
have not any work in an intelligible character, above 2200 years 
old ; Father Amiot considers their nation as a colony, derived from 
the immediate descendants of Noah ; and their traditional know- 
ledge, and religious doctrines, when freed from ignorant and super- 
stitious additions, exhibit a correspondence with the Patriarchal prin- 
ciples. Vid. Martini, p. 2, 3. 9. Mem. de l'Hist. des Sciences, &c. 
Chinois, vol. i. Par. 1776. 

9 The Greeks could produce no dates beyond 550 years before 
Christ, and little historical information before the Olympiads, which 
began 775 years before the Christian aera. Herodotus, who flou- 

G 



82 OF THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

fabricated, appear to have been swollen to so great a 
magnitude, by varying the modes of calculation, by 
separating events which were contemporary, and by 
substituting lunar for solar periods. They are the mis- 
representations of pride, or the errors of inattention, 
and utterly unworthy to be put in competition with 
the accurate reports and documents of revealed in- 
formation K 

rislied less than five centuries before our Saviour, begins with fable ; 
Thucydides rejects, as uncertain, almost all that preceded the Pelo- 
ponnesian war ; and Plutarch ventured not beyond the time of The- 
seus, who lived a little before the ministry of Samuel. Vid. Plu- 
tarch's Life of Theseus. Strabo's Geograph. lib. xvii. 

1 Some difficulties, equally futile and unreasonable, have likewise 
been started against the probability of that account, which derives 
the whole race of mankind from one common stock, notwithstanding 
the diversity of complexion, and the separation of country. Some 
of those who deny that climate and local circumstances are sufficient 
to account for every dissimilarity which is discovered in the appear-: 
ance of different nations, have maintained that Ham and his de- 
scendants were condemned by Providence to bear that mark of the 
Divine displeasure. The name of Ham on signifies hot, or dark 
coloured : and the descendants of Ham are stated to have every 
where a peculiar membrane under the skin, and are more or less 
black or swarthy, as the Chinese, the Malays, the Phoenicians, Ly- 
bians, the Hindoos, &c. The supposed difficulties of emigration are 
likewise obviated by recent discoveries in geography ; for these de- 
monstrate a much greater proximity in countries, between which no 
communication was conceived to exist in the earlier ages of the world, 
than obtains between those from which early emigrations have con- 
fessedly been made, and those to which they have been directed. 
It is now determined, by positive examination, that the north-east 
part of Asia is either connected with the north-west part of America, 
or separated from it by a very inconsiderable distance ; though, in- 
deed, this discovery was not necessary to prove that the savage 
nations of the western continent must have derived their origin from 



OF THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 83 

Every circumstance, indeed, in the Mosaic account, 
bears, if impartially considered, a striking feature of 
probability and truth ; and the whole is far different 
from the wild and inconsistent theories, which have at 
different times been imagined and framed by fanciful 
men 2 ; whose crude and extravagant conjectures con- 
cerning the creation, only prove the impossibility of 
treating such a subject without the aid of inspiration. 
Moses describes the great work of the creation, not in 

the same common source as the eastern nations ; since, not to insist 
on the arguments for the recency of their establishment, which might 
be drawn from their uncivilized state, and their rude ignorance of 
the useful arts, they retained the vestiges of opinions and customs, 
which were so remarkably similar to those that prevailed in the East, 
as evidently to point out a former connection. A reverence for the 
Sabbath, and an acquaintance with many appointments of the Mo- 
saic institution, were observed to exist in America, by the first dis- 
coverers of that country, too numerous, indeed, to be the result of 
accident or casual resemblance ; all the Americans had some tradi- 
tionary acquaintance with the particulars of the Mosaic history ; as 
of the flood ; of one family preserved ; and of the confusion of 
tongues. The Mexicans had a custom of tinging the threshold of 
the door with blood, possibly in allusion to the circumstances that 
distinguished the institution of the Passover, and the Canadians had 
even some idea of the Messiah. Huet. Demon. Evang. cap. vii. § 
iii. Lerii Navig. in Brasil. cap. 16. Joann. de Laet. Antwerp. 
Not. ad Dissert. Grot, de Orig. Gent. American. Acosta's Hist, 
lib. v. cap. 28. Peter Mart. Decad. iv. cap. 8. and Decad. viii. cap. 
9. Geor. Horn, de Orig. Gent. American. Harris's Introd. to 
Collect, of Voyages. Smith's Essay on the Causes of Variety of 
Complexion and Figure in the Human Species. Herod. 1. iv. c. 64. 
Sir William Jones's Discourse on Origin and Families of Nations. 
Asiatic Researches, vol. iii. 

2 Cudworth's Intel. System, Preface to Universal History. 
Clarke's Demonst. of Being and Attributes of God. 

G 2 



84 OF THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

an exact philosophical detail, but in a style adapted to 
popular apprehensions, and with a concise magnificence, 
designed to impress mankind with just notions of God, 
and of his attributes 3 . The account is given without 
any attempt to establish system, and in a manner 
levelled to all capacities, though universally admired 
for its sublimity \ It represents the whole world to 
be material and created, in opposition to the prevailing 
notions, that the heavenly bodies were animated by an 
eternal power, and that the earth was eternal. The 
divine agency is familiarised to us under images and 
descriptions accommodated to human conceptions, and 
though the real mode of God's operation and proceed- 
ings cannot be apprehended by us at present, they are 
in some measure subjected to our understanding, under 
analogous representations, which illustrate their cha- 
racter. 

But notwithstanding the nature of God's agency is 
adumbrated under terms and expressions adapted to 
human actions, the account of the creation is not to be 
considered as allegorical, or merely figurative, any more 
than are the history of the temptation, and of the fall 
from innocence ; since the whole description is unques- 
tionably delivered as real, and is so considered by all 
the sacred writers 5 . In the explanation of Scripture, 

3 Some think that the world was instantaneously created, though 
represented by Moses, as performed in succession of time, in ac- 
commodation to our conceptions, but it is more reasonable and con- 
sistent with the account to believe, that it was completed in detail. 
Moses speaks of the creation of the universe, but treats of the 
heavenly bodies only so far as they respected the earth. 

4 Longin. de Sublim. sect. 9. 

5 John viii. 44. 2 Cor. xi. 3. 1 Tim. ii. 13. Rev. xii. 9. Allix's 



OF THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 85 

indeed, no interpretation which tends to supersede the 
literal sense should be admitted : and for this reason 
also it is, that those speculations which are spun out 
with a view to render particular relations in this book 
more consistent with our notions of probability, should 
be received at least with great diffidence and caution. 
To represent the formation of the woman from Adam's 
rib, as a work performed in an imaginary sense, or as 
presented to the mind in vision, seems to be too great 
a departure from the plain rules which should be 
observed in the construction of Scripture 6 , and incon- 
sistent with the expositions of the sacred writers. So 
likewise the wrestling of Jacob with an angel 7 , which 
is sometimes considered as a scenical representation 
addressed to the fancy of the Patriarch, should rather 
be contemplated like the temptation of Abraham 8 , as 
a literal transaction, though, perhaps, of a figurative 
character ; like that, it was designed to convey infor- 
mation by action instead of words, of certain particulars 

Reflect, on Gen. Waterland's Gen. Pref. to Script, vind. Watty's 
Essay towards Vindic. of Mosaic Hist. Nichol's confer, with a 
Theist, part i. p. 136. 

6 Gen. i. 22, 23. This is related by Moses as a real operation, 
though performed while Adam was in a deep sleep, and is so con- 
sidered by St. Paul. 1 Cor. xi. 8, 9. 

7 Ch. xxxii. 24, 25. 

8 Ch. xxii. The enjoined sacrifice of Isaac is properly considered 
as a typical representation, which was understood by Abraham to 
prefigure the sacrifice of Christ. Vid. John viii. 56. But it can- 
not be admitted, that the command was merely an information by 
action given at the request of Abraham, as this, notwithstanding the 
arguments of the learned Warburton, must be considered as incon- 
sistent with the passages in Scripture, where God is said to have 
tempted Abraham. Gen. xxii. 1. Heb. xi. 17. Vide Div. Legat, 
book vi. sect. 5. 



86 OF THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

which it imported the Patriarch to know 9 ; and which 
he readily collected from a mode of revelation, so cus- 
tomary in the earlier ages of the world, however in- 
congruous it may seem to those who cannot raise their 
minds to the contemplation of any economy which they 
have not experienced, and who proudly question every 
event not agreeable to their notions of propriety. 

Moses being employed by God to impart his revela- 
tion to mankind, begins his work with the history of 
the Fall, as of the event on which the necessity of 
divine instruction and of the intervention of a mediator 
was founded. After having related the disobedience 
of Adam, and its punishment, softened by the gracious 
promise of a future seed, that should bruise the seducer 
to sin \ he describes the multiplication of mankind, 
and the evil consequences of the entailed corruption ; 
the intermixture of the descendants of Seth " the sons 
of God," with the family of Cain, " the daughters of 
men;" the progress of impiety, and its punishment; 

9 Ch. xxxii. 24, 25. The successful struggle which Jacob main- 
tained, was intended to convey to him an assurance of that deliver- 
ance from the hand of Esau, which he had piously intreated ; it is 
represented as an actual event by Moses, and is so received by 
Hosea, ch. xii. 4. St. Jerom understands it as figurative of spiritual 
conflicts which we are to maintain. Hieron. in cap. 6. Epist. ad 
Ephes. 

1 Gen. iii. 15. It is remarkable that in this first prophecy of the 
Messiah, he is promised as the " seed of the woman." The Jews 
were at a loss to account for the restriction, of which the reason is 
revealed to us in the account of the miraculous conception of Christ 
by a virgin. It deserves to be noticed, that the bruising of the 
Messiah's heel was literally accomplished by the crucifixion. The 
head likewise of the serpent is said to be the seat of life, his heart 
being under the throat, and hencej his chief care, when attacked, is 
to secure his head. 



OF THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 87 

the preservation of Noah, and of his family, from amidst 
the general destruction by the flood : he proceeds to 
treat of God's covenant with man ; of the dispersion 
of the descendants of Noah ; of the confusion of 
tongues ; of the covenant made with Abraham, which 
implied a promise to rescind the sentence pronounced 
against Adam 2 ; of the destruction of Sodom and 
Gomorrah ; and of such particulars in the lives of the 
Patriarchs, as were best calculated to illustrate the pro- 
ceedings and judgments of the Almighty, the conse- 
quences of human actions, and the rise and progress of 
religion. He concludes with the interesting story of 
Joseph; of the settlement of the Israelites in Egypt ; of 
the death of Jacob after uttering prophetic blessings re- 
lating to the Patriarchs ; and of the future conduct and 
circumstances of their descendants, multiplied into the 
twelve tribes of Israel, distinctly characterised by those 
features which in subsequent times they disclosed. 
Thus have we a clear, though short, history of the first 
ages of the world, which profane writers had in vain 
endeavoured to rescue f om the shades of antiquity. 
The whole is related with a concise and noble simplicity 
of style suitable to the dignity of the subject. The 
sacred writer, anxious only to communicate important 
intelligence, describes the earlier periods with rapidity, 
and dilates more copiously on the interesting transac- 
tions of which the effects and influence were recently 
experienced. In the brief sketch, however, even of 
the first ages, Moses, by the selection of individual 
families for consideration, delineates a striking picture 
of the manners of each period ; and by occasionally 

2 Matt. xxii. 32. Vide also Ezekiel xvi. 53. 



88 OF THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

descending to the minuteness of biography, he affords a 
lively illustration of the smaller features, and familiar 
manners of the Patriarchal ages. 

In the course of his history, Moses describes events 
as they occurred, and characters as they appeared. 
The actions of the patriarchs and favourite ancestors of 
the Jews, however exceptionable, and even the deceit- 
ful cruelty of Levi (from whom the historian was 
descended), as also the curses denounced against him 3 , 
are related without disguise. One circumstance must, 
however, be remembered by those who would under- 
stand the scope and design of the sacred writer, in his 
detail of particular relations contained in this book, 
which is, that he always kept in mind the promise of 
the Messiah, and was desirous of showing, that the 
expectation of this great object of the Jewish hopes 
was predominant in all times, and influenced the 
opinions and manners of every generation 4 . The recol- 
lection of this will enable us to perceive the reason of 
many particulars mentioned in the book, which might 
otherwise appear extraordinary and exceptionable. It 
will explain the conduct of Lot's daughters 5 ; the 



3 Ch. xxxiv. 13—25. xlix. 5, 6. 

4 Eve, when she brought forth her first-born son, seems to have 
imagined that she had given birth to the promised seed. — See Gen. 
iv. 1. 

5 R. Samuel and R. Tanchumah, on Gen. xix. 32. This incest 
certainly proceeded, under perverted views excited by the malignant 
influence of Satan, from a desire of producing the Messiah : as Lot's 
daughters were previously distinguished for chastity ; as it was a 
concerted and deliberate proceeding ; and as they wished to per- 
petuate the memory of the action, by the names which they gave 
the children ; for Moab implies from my father, and Ben-ammi, son 
of my people. Vid, Allix's Reflections on Gen. 



OF THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 89 

violent desire of Sarah for a son; the solicitude of 
Isaac to remove the barrenness of Rebekah ; and the 
contention between the wives of Jacob. In conformity 
with this design also Moses relates the jealousies be- 
tween Ishmael and Isaac ; and between Esau and 
Jacob ; and many other minute and singular particulars, 
which an historian of his dignity would not have con- 
descended to describe, but with a view to illustrate the 
general persuasion of, and gradual preparation for, the 
coming of the Messiah. 

The book contains likewise some signal and direct 
prophecies concerning Christ, described by Jacob as 
" the angel which redeemed him from all evil 6 ;" and 
other interspersed predictions ; which by their accom- 
plishment authenticate the truth of the Scripture 
accounts. The memorable prophecies with respect to 
the enlargement of Japhet, the abode of God in the 
tents of Shem, the servitude of Canaan, and the selec- 
tion of the tribe of Judah as sovereign 7 , wonderfully 
illustrate the fore-knowledge of God, and the economy 
of the divine government 8 . Moses describes particu- 
larly the predictions of Noah and Jacob, who were 
occasionally enlightened by the Holy Spirit, to unfold 
parts of the divine economy, and to keep alive the 
confidence and hopes of mankind, the sacred writer 

Gen. iii. 15. xii. 3. xviii. 18. xxi. 12. xxii. 18. xxvi. 4. 
xxviii. 14. xlviii. 16. xlix. 10. 18. 

7 xlix. 8—10. 

8 Compare Gen. ix. 27. with Exod. xxiii. 20. Psalm cxxxv. 4. 
Numb. xxxv. 34. Deut. xii. 11. John i. 14. Rom. ix. 5. Col. ii. 
2. iv. 8, 9. Heb. viii. 1, 2. Vide Fulleri Miseell. Theolog. lib. 2. 
c. 4. p. 168. Oxon. 1616. 



90 OF THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

thus " delivering the prophecies which have been 
uttered ever since the world began 9 ." 

It may be briefly observed, that many particulars in 
pagan history, as well as many circumstances in the 
present appearance of the world, both natural and 
moral, tend to prove the truth of the accounts which 
are presented to us in this book K Traces of the 
Mosaic history, and of the events and characters 
which it describes, are discoverable throughout the 
pages of profane authors. Vestiges of the Deluge 
daily point out its extensive effects. The spot on 
which Sodom and Gomorrah stood, still indicates a 
sulphureous property 2 ; the various manners, cus- 

9 Gen. vi. 3. ix. 11. 25—27. xiii. 15, 16, comp. with 1 Kings 
iv. 21. xv. 5. 13—18. xvi. 12. xvii. 8. 20. xviii. 14. xxi. 12, 13. 
xxv. 23. compare with 2 Sara. viii. 14. and 2 Kings xiv. 7. xxvi. 
4. xxvii. 28, 29. 39, &c. xxxv. 11. xl. 13. 18, 19. xli. 29—31. 
xlvi. 1 — 4. xlviii. 19. xlix. 3 — 27. 1. 24. comp. with Joshua xiv. 
xvii. Gen. xlix. 17. with Judges xviii. 10. 

1 Compare Hamilton's Journey across the Desert, and Keppel's 
Narrative, vol 1. c. 7. p. 143. with Genesis xxxi. 40. 

2 The lake Asphaltites is a sea of very bituminous nature : it 
throws up great quantities of asphaltos, a drug formerly used by the 
Egyptians and other nations for embalming, &c. Vid. Maundrell's 
Journey. Pocock. Univer. Hist. vol. ii. book i. ch. vii. page 418. 
Keil's Exam, of Reflect, on Theor. p. 148. Waterland's Pref. to 
Vind. Jenkins's Reasonableness, vol. ii. p. 526. also Joseph. Antiq. 
lib. i. cap. 9 and 11. Plin. Nat. Hist. lib. v. cap. 16. p. 262. edit. 
Harduin. and Taciti Hist. lib. v. sect. 7- The account of the latter 
author is remarkable. He relates that the plains where the cities 
stood, were said, " olim uberes, magnisque urbibus habitatos, fulmi- 
num jactu arsisse : et manere vestigia, terramque ipsam specie torri- 
dam, vim frugiferam perdidisse. Nam cuncta sponte edita, aut 
manu sata, sive herba tenus aut flore, seu solitam in speciem ado- 
levere, atra, et inania velut in cinerem vanescunt." He adds, 

1 



OF THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 91 

toms, and superstitions of many ancient nations, un- 
changed during a long succession of ages, still remain 
to prove the fidelity and exactness of the descriptions 
given by Moses 3 ; and we witness in the predominant 
genius and disposition of the modern Jews, a wonderful 
correspondence with the illustration of their ancient 
character. No length of time, or difference of con- 
dition, hath been able to efface those strong features of 
national peculiarity which are imprinted on this singular 
people, and which show themselves so remarkably in 
their prejudices, conduct, and manners, in different 
countries, and under different governments. The 
reason and foundation of their observances and cere- 
monies, are traced out in this book ; and though in the 
subsequent parts of the Pentateuch the laws are laid 
down by which their civil and religious conduct are 
influenced, yet here chiefly are described the causes 
and sources from which they are derived, as may be 
instanced in the cases of the Sabbath, and of the Cir- 
cumcision 4 , not to mention other particulars. Genesis 

11 Ego sicut inclitas quondam urbes igne ccelesti flagrasse conces- 
serim, ita halitu lacus infici terram, corrumpi superfusum spiritum, 
eoque foetus segetum et autumni putrescere reor, solo cceloque juxta 
gravi." Vid. also Strabo's Geogr. lib. xvi. Thevenot's Travels, and 
Volney's Voyage en Syrie, &c. vol. i. p. 281. Wood's Essay on 
Homer, p. 51. note (h). 

3 His geographical accounts, and history of the origin of nations, 
also are consistent with the most authentic memorials. Vid. Jose- 
phus, Grotius, and Bochart. Harmer's Observations on divers Pas- 
sages of Scripture, &c. Huet. Demon. Prop. iv. Avenarius in verbo 
FT. 

4 Allix's Reflections on Genesis, republished in Bp. Watson's 
Theological Tracts, vol. i. Vid. Genesis xxxii. 32. Euseb. Praep. 
Evan. lib. vii. c. ix. page 513. 



92 OF THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 

was, also, very properly prefixed to those books in 
which Moses communicated the divine commands, since 
not only are herein displayed the most impressive 
proofs of God's existence and attributes, but in it like- 
wise is shown the authority from which Moses derived 
his commission as a lawgiver ; and it was, therefore, 
probably written as preparatory to the promulgation of 
the law 5 . It is also excellently serviceable to illustrate 
the great design and tendency of revelation ; which is 
ever delivered in a manner conformable to the fallen 
and depraved nature of man. It describes the origin 
of a distinct immaterial spirit, derived immediately 
from God ; and the first institution of the marriage 
union. It points out the true source of evil, in an 
account consistent with the divine attributes, and con- 
firmed by the character and appearance of mankind in 
every age. Every moral discourse, as well as every 
religious system, must be built on the foundation and 
conviction that man was created in innocence, but 
degraded by sin ; and hence he is prone to evil, though 
susceptible of good. 

On account of the dignity and importance of the 
subject, and of the serious attention which it deserved, 
the Jews were forbidden to read the beginning of 
Genesis till they had attained the sacerdotal age of 
thirty years. A book, indeed, which describes the first 
creation and lapse of man; which treats of God's 
counsels and intercourse with his creatures ; which 
opens the prospect of redemption, and the grand scheme 
of prophecy ; and which exemplifies the high obliga- 



5 Euseb. Prsep. Evan. lib. iii. c. iii. p. 301. Isid. Pelusiot. lib. 
iii. Epist. 78. edit. Paris, 1638. 



OF THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 93 

tions and interests of mankind, cannot be considered 
with too mature and deliberate judgment. 

A work entitled the Book of Enoch, which was 
brought in an Ethiopic version by Bruce from Abys- 
sinia, was found in one copy of the Scriptures placed 
before the book of Job. It is a translation from the 
Greek, and contains visions respecting fallen angels 
and giants, whose crimes are represented to have 
brought down the deluge. It has been always deemed 
apocryphal, and is of uncertain origin, but generally 
supposed to have been written by a Jew of Palestine, 
after the captivity, as the author evidently borrows 
from Daniel. Dr. Laurence supposes it to have been 
composed in the reign of Herod : it contains an inti- 
mation of three Divine Persons 6 . 

6 Book of Enoch, published by Richard Laurence, present Arch- 
bishop of Cashel, Oxford, 1821. 



OF THE 



BOOK OF EXODUS. 



The title of the second book of Moses is, likewise, 
descriptive of its contents. The word Exodus \ which 
is of Greek origin, implies emigration ; and the book 
relates the departure of the Israelites out of Egypt, 
after a description of their state of servitude ; of the 
appointment of Moses ; and of the stupendous miracles 
by which he defeated the arts and enchantments of 
the magicians, and effected the deliverance of the 
people 2 , and which were concerted with peculiar re- 
ference to the rites and superstitions of the Egyptians. 
It presents us also with the account of their journey 
through the wilderness ; of the solemn promulgation of 
the law at Mount Sinai ; of the delivery of the Deca- 
logue; and of the building of the Tabernacle. It is 
universally allowed to have been written by Moses; 
and words in the book of Exodus are cited as the words 
of Moses, by Daniel, David, and other sacred writers ; 
to whom it is useless to refer, since our Saviour him- 

1 From E£o£oe, a departure, or going out. It is called by the 
Jews, mnttf nVttl ; " and these are the names," which are the initial 
words of the book. 

2 See Turner's Dissertation on Miracles, cap. iv. sect. 1. p. 409. 



OF THE BOOK OF EXODUS. 95 

self always distinguishes the law (by which the whole 
Pentateuch is implied) from the prophets, as the work 
of Moses ; and Rivet has observed, that twenty-five pas- 
sages are quoted by Christ and his apostles out of this 
book in express words, and nineteen as to the substance, 
which will be found not to be an exaggerated account. 

Exodus contains a history of about 145 years, or 
perhaps of a somewhat shorter period. It affords a 
very minute and circumstantial detail of the fulfilment 
of the declaration made by God to Abraham, with res- 
pect to the bondage of his descendants in Egypt, the 
judgments to be inflicted on the Egyptians, and their 
departure from thence with great substance 3 . Many 
of the circumstances therein recorded are confirmed by 
the testimony of heathen writers 4 . This, perhaps, it is 
unnecessary to mention, for our conviction of the truth 
of its relations is built on much higher evidence. The 
intrinsic marks of sincerity in the Sacred Writings are 
usually too numerous to require any additional support. 

This Book contains some predictions, of which it 

3 Gen. xv. 13, 14. 

4 Numenius speaks of the opposition of the Egyptian magicians to 
the miracles of Moses. Euseb. Praep. Evangel, lib. ix. cap. 8. p. 
411. Edit. Paris. 1628. The Exodus under Moses is mentioned 
by Palemon and Chseremon ; as cited by Africanus in Eusebius ; by 
Manetho : (vid. Joseph, cont. Apion. lib. i. p. 1337.) by Trogus 
Fompeius ; and by Tacitus, with some absurd additions from per- 
verted information. Vid. Tacit. Hist. lib. v. § 3. torn. ii. p. 350. 
Edit. Traject. Batavor. Other writers, as especially Orpheus, or 
the author of the verses ascribed to him, speak of the delivery of 
the two tablets of the law from God, and of the institution of the 
Hebrew rites. See also Diodorus Siculus, Bibliothec. Historic. 
torn. 1. lib. iii. p. 145. and Eclogae ex. lib. xi. torn. 2. Edit. 
Wetsten. Amstelodara. 1705. 



96 OF THE BOOK OF EXODUS. 

relates also the accomplishment ; as that of the deliver- 
ance of the Israelites, which Moses foresaw 5 and ef- 
fected ; and of the support of the Divine presence 
which was to accompany them 6 . It likewise describes 
some which were not fulfilled till after his death, as 
that concerning the gradual conquest of Canaan 7 , the 
future division and allotment of the land ; and its 
security from the desire of its enemies to invade it, 
while its males three times a year should appear before 
the Lord 8 ; and farther also, those which related to the 
revolutions that were to take place in the government 
of the Jews ; their future subjections, captivities, deliver- 
ances, and returns. 

It may throw some light upon this book, as well as 
contribute to our general admiration of Scripture, if we 
observe, that the events recorded to have happened 
under the old dispensation, are often strikingly pre- 
figurative of those which occur under the new ; and that 
the temporal circumstances of the Israelites seem de- 
signedly to shadow out the spiritual condition of the 
Christian church. The connection is ever obvious, 
and points out the consistency of the divine purpose, 
and the harmony deliberately contrived to subsist 
between both dispensations. Thus in the servitude 

5 Exodus vii. 4, 5. xi. 8. and chap. xii. 

6 Chap, xxxiii. 14. 

7 Chap. xii. 24. xv. 14—17. xxiii. 22, 23. 28—31. xxxiii. 2. 
And see Joshua xxiv. 12. 

8 Moses predicted the constant miracles of protection during the 
time of worship at the feast of the Passover, at that of Pentecost, and 
of Tabernacles. Vid. Exod. xxxiv. 23, 24. the accomplishment of 
which prediction furnished reiterated evidence of the divine autho- 
rity of the Mosaic law. 



OF THE BOOK OF EXODUS. 97 

and afflictions of the Israelites are described the suffer- 
ings of the church. In the deliverance from Egypt is 
foreshown its redemption 9 ; and the journey through 
the wilderness is a lively representation of a Christian's 
pilgrimage through life, to his inheritance of everlasting 
bliss. So also, without too minute a reference, it may 
be observed, that the manna of which the Israelites 
did eat \ and the rock of which they drank 2 , as well as 
the brazen serpent by which they were healed, were 
severally typical of correspondent particulars that were 
to obtain under the Christian establishment 3 ; as under 
the sacrifices and ceremonial service of the church, of 
which the institution is here recorded, was described 
the more spiritual worship of the gospel 4 . It deserves 
also to be particularly considered, in confirmation of 
the truth of the events recorded in this book, as esta- 
blished by permanent proofs, that the wonderful de- 
struction of the first-born of the Egyptians was 
commemorated throughout all ages of the Jewish 
history, by the redemption of the first-born 5 , by the 
separation of the Levites, and by the observance of the 
passover, which ordinance also connected the Hebrew 
with the Christian dispensation, inasmuch as it was 
prophetic of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, as 
instituted by Christ. Similar observations might be 

9 Zacharias applies the very words of the temporal to the spiritual 
deliverance. Luke i. 68 — 79. 

1 John vi. 32—38. Rev. ii. 17. 

2 1 Cor. x. 1—6. Gal. iv. 22. 24. Col. ii. 17. 

3 St. Jerom carries these ideas to a very fanciful extreme. Vid. 
Hieron. de 42. Mansion. DeVeste Sacerdot., &c. 

4 Heb. x. 

5 Exodus xiii. 1—16. Numb. iii. 11—22. 

H 



98 OF THE BOOK OF EXODUS. 

made with respect to the feast of tabernacles, and that 
of Pentecost, commemorative of the sojourning in the 
wilderness, and of the delivery of the law from Mount 
Sinai 6 . 

It is necessary farther to remark, that if we would 
understand the reason and intention of many injunc- 
tions contained in this book, we must recollect that 
the great design, with which they were framed, was 
to preserve the Israelites a distinct and independent 
people, and to prevent their intercourse with other 
nations ; lest they, who were to be entrusted with the 
sacred deposit of the inspired writings, and from whom, 
as from the seed of Abraham, the Messiah was to arise, 
should catch the infection of idolatry ; or by mingling 
with the Gentiles, render the accomplishment of the 
promises doubtful. The institutions were adapted to a 
spiritual service, and the instructions calculated to pro- 
duce a moral and beneficial effect. The many cautions 
against idolatry, and the precepts levelled against what- 
ever might tend to promote its influence 7 ; the nice 
discriminations, the peculiar and alienating prohibitions, 
which precluded the Israelites from associating with 
other nations, and the political institutions designed to 
attach them to their country, were all devised with a 
view to the accomplishment of this important design. 
And as not only the country, not only the tribe, but 

6 See Jamieson's use of sacred history, vol. i. p. 47 — 50. 

7 Maimon. More Nevoch. p. ii. c. xxxvii. and Levit. xix. 19. 27, 
28. xxi. 3. which passages contain laws that were probably directed 
against idolatrous and superstitious practices. Vid. Ezra x. 2, 3. 
Spencer de Leg. Heb. vol. i. lib. 2. cap. 20. Edit. Cantab. 
1727. 



OF THE BOOK OF EXODUS. 99 

the individual family was foretold, from which the 
Messiah should spring, it was requisite to ascertain 
exactly the lineage and descent of each. Hence were 
the seeds of jealousy industriously sown between the 
different tribes, and the younger preferred to the 
elder. Under this just apprehension, the laws en- 
joined to ascertain the virginity of maidens will be 
judged necessary ; and the punishment decreed against 
adultery will not appear disproportion ed or severe. 
These instances are produced only by way of illustration ; 
and by attending to the views of God in the establish- 
ment of their religious polity, we shall always find much 
cause to admire the wisdom of his laws 8 ; though, 
indeed, we are too little acquainted with the ancient 
manners of the Hebrew nation, and of other nations 
with whom it came in contact, to understand the full 
scope and importance of every particular injunction. 
The precepts themselves are often grounded upon 
events which are recorded, and establish the truth of 
the history. 

It should be further observed, that this book is si«:- 
nalized by several remarkable particulars, which indi- 
cate the intervention and fore-knowledge of God, and 
which exemplify the means by which he rendered his 
appointments subservient to the establishment of per- 
manent evidences and testimonies in support of his 
dispensations. It records the revelations of himself 
graciously imparted under a new and characteristic 
designation of his eternal attributes and existence 9 . 

8 Maimon. More Nevoch. part. ii. cap. xxvi. xxxvii. p. 258. and 
296. Edit. Buxtorf. Basil. 1629. 

9 Exodus iii. 14. xxxiv. 6, 7. 

H 2 



100 OF THE BOOK OF EXODUS. 

It relates the institution of the ordinance of the Pass- 
over, not only as a typical appointment designed to 
be figurative of the atonement of Christ through all 
ages, till a sacrifice should be perfected by his death ] ; 
but which also, by a remarkable and ever-memorable 
direction of God, was to be regarded as constituting a 
new period, figurative, perhaps, of the commencement 
of the Christian sera 2 , which was to take its rise from 
the nativity of Him whose memorial was to be cele- 
brated as the true paschal lamb. The regulations also 
relating to the offerings and appurtenances of the taber- 
nacle 3 , and to the consecration of Aaron and his sons 4 , 
minutely described with all the circumstances, demon- 
strate the attention and care with which the public 
appointments and ministration of divine service, even 
in the wilderness, were provided for by the Almighty. 

1 Chap. xii. 3—20. 2 Chap. xii. 2. 14. 1 Kings vi. 1. 

8 Chap. xxv. xxvi. 4 Chap, xxviii. 



OF THE 



BOOK OF LEVITICUS, 



The third book in the order of the Pentateuch is called 
Leviticus *, in the Latin and English Bibles, because in 
it are described the office and duties of the Levites ; or 
rather, agreeably to the account of Bishop Patrick, be- 
cause it contains the laws of the Jewish rites and reli- 
gious sacrifices, of which the charge was committed to 
Aaron the Levite, and to his descendants, who were 
consecrated by divine appointment to the priesthood ; 
being assisted in the performance of their sacred office 
by a second branch of Levi's family, which, by an ap- 
propriate title, was called the tribe of Levi 2 ; and 
obtained the privilege of officiating as a second order 
of the priesthood, in recompense of the ready zeal that 
it displayed against idolatry, and the worshippers of the 
golden calf 3 . 

1 AeviriKov, in Greek. 

2 Godwyn's Moses and Aaron, lib. i. ch. v. Heb. vii. 11. 

3 Aaron was appointed to the priesthood before the idolatrous 
proceeding here alluded to. What opposition he made to the per- 
verse inclinations of the people is not mentioned. He appears to have 
been compelled to submit ; and probably he designed to discoun- 
tenance the idolaters by choosing as a symbol of the Divine presence 
one of those very images which they knew to have provoked God's 



102 OF THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS. 

The Jews, according to their custom, denominate the 
book from the first word in the Hebrew 4 ; and imagine, 
in agreement with some fanciful notions of the Maso- 
rites, from the particular size of one letter in the word, 
that it has some mysterious signification; but these 
conceits it would perhaps be somewhat difficult to ex- 
plain, and of but little use to discuss. 

That Moses was the author of this book is proved, 
not only by the general arguments that demonstrate him 
to have written all the Pentateuch, but by particular 
passages in other books of Scripture, wherein it is ex- 
pressly cited as his inspired work 5 . The laws of rites 
and ceremonies which it contains were delivered from 
God to Moses in the first month of the second year 
after the departure from Egypt ; that is, about a. m. 
2514. They are communicated in a plain and perspi- 
cuous style : the precepts are fully and circumstantially 
given ; and their minute particulars are often repeated, 

anger against the Egyptians. There were three orders in the He- 
brew priesthood : the Priests, the Levites, and the Nethinims. The 
Levites instructed the people, were employed in taking care of the 
tabernacle, and afterwards of the temple and the sacred books ; they 
were likewise joined with the priests in deciding on cases of leprosy, 
and in judging ceremonial causes: they had not any appropriate 
portion or inheritance, but subsisted by the altar, scattered among 
the rest of the tribes, agreeably to the prediction of Jacob. Vid. 
Gen. xlix. 7. The Nethinims were descendants of the Gibeonites, 
condemned by Joshua for their deceit, to menial and servile attend- 
ance on the Priests. Vid. Joshua ix. They were called Nethinims, 
from |DJ, Nathan, to give ; as given to the service of the temple. 

4 *Op*l, and he called. 

8 2 Chron. xxx. 16. Jerem. vii. 22, 23. ix. 16. Ezek. xx. 11. 
See farther Matt. viii. 4. John viii. 5. compare with ch. xiv. 2. 
and xx. 10. Rom. x. 5. xiii. 9. 2 Cor. vi. 16. Gal. iii. 12. 
1 Pet. i. 16, and Baruch ii. 29. 



OF THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS. 103 

and insisted on as important, and expressive of some- 
thing beyond the mere letter. 

That the Levitical law had a covert and mysterious 
signification is, indeed, justly allowed by all judicious 
commentators ; the whole service had a spiritual mean- 
ing; and its institutions, ordinances, and ceremonies 
were unquestionably prefigurative of gospel appoint- 
ments 6 . Thus its sacrifices and oblations, which, if 
performed in faith and obedience, were to conciliate 
forgiveness of sins 7 , have been justly considered as 
significant of the atonement to be made by Christ. 
The requisite qualities of these sacrifices were em- 
blematical of Christ's immaculate character. The 
mode also prescribed as necessary in the form of these 
offerings, and the mystical rites ordained, were allusive 
institutions calculated to enlighten the apprehensions 
of the Jews, and to prepare them for the reception of 
the gospel 8 . Thus likewise, as might have been ob- 
served in the account of the preceding book, the ark of 
the covenant, the structure of the tabernacle, the priest- 
hood, and its decorations, were all apposite emblems of 
correspondent circumstances, appropriate to a scheme 
of more perfect description 9 . So also in a less impor- 

6 John xix. 36. comp. with Exod. xii. 4. Numb. ix. 12. Heb. ix. x. 

7 Ezek. xx. 11. Rom. x. 5. Gal. iii. 12. Shuckford's Con. 
vol. iii. b. xi. These were to conciliate forgiveness only in virtue 
of Christ's sacrifice, and on the conditions of faith in God's promises, 
and of obedience to his laws. The Jews understood the conditions, 
however they might be ignorant of the nature of Christ's meritorious 
atonement, and however they might have been at length misled to 
attribute to their legal sacrifices a real efficacy, and power of effecting 
reconciliation and pardon in a future life. 

8 Heb. xiii. 11, 12. The Israelites must have had at least some 
indistinct idea of this spiritual reference. Vid. 1 Cor. x. 1 — 4. 

9 Heb. viii. 5. ix. 8, 9. 



104 OF THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS. 

tant sense were the outward rites and purgations en- 
joined by the Mosaic law, designed to intimate the 
necessity of inward purity \ The whole service, there- 
fore, like the veil on the face of Moses, concealed a 
spiritual radiance under an outward covering ; and the 
internal import bearing a precise and indisputable re- 
ference to future circumstances and events, is stamped 
with the indelible proofs of Divine contrivance 2 . 

These ideas, however, though just, must not be over- 
strained, since the fancy, if unreined, is apt to run into 
excess : and the interpretation of the ritual law has 
been, perhaps, too uncontrolled, particularly by its 
earlier expositors, who have sometimes built their ex- 
planations more on fanciful allusion, than on real 
analogy, and true connexion 3 . It may be remarked 
also, that some of these ceremonial laws seem to have 
been imposed as a punishment, on account of the fre- 
quent transgressions of a rebellious people 4 ; or rather 
as a yoke or curb to restrain them from idolatry 5 , as 
well as to discriminate them from all other nations ; 
(which purpose they effectually served in all their dis- 
persions and captivities ;) and to interest their affections 
in favour of a religion, the practice of which was inter- 
woven with the whole conduct of their life 6 . The 
sanctimonious observances, likewise, and the frequent 

1 Numb. xix. 13. 19. Deut. x. 16. xxx. 6. Heb. x. 22. xii. 24. 
1 Pet. i. 2. Rom. ii. 28, 29. 1 Cor. vii. 19. 

2 Exod. xxxiv. 33. 2 Cor. iii. 13. 

3 Hesychii Comment. 

4 Gal. iii. 19. 1 Tim. i. 8 — 10. Xrenae. Haeres. lib. iv. c. xxviii. 
Lactant. de Vera Sapient, lib. iv. c. x. p. 264. Biblioth. Patrum, 
torn. i. Spencer de Legib. Hebrse. lib. i. c. iv. p. 41. 

5 Lowman's Hebrew Worship, &c. Vid. ch. xix. 26. 28. Spencer 
de Leg. lib. ii. Ezek. xx. 24, 25. 

6 Juvenal, Sat. xiv. 1. 103, 104. Tacit. Hist. lib. v. § 5. Grot. 



OF THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS. 105 

purifications and regard to dress, enjoined by the Le- 
vitical law, were designed to keep up a reverential awe 
of the Divine majesty, which was supposed personally 
to reside among this favoured people ; and to impress 
them with a conviction of the inward holiness which 
was requisite to qualify them to approach God's pre- 
sence. 

The distinctions between clean and unclean beasts, 
were founded on an accurate and comprehensive know- 
ledge of their characteristic properties, though often 
intended to be burthensome 7 . They were also par- 
ticularly designed to separate this sanctified people from 
defilement and social intercourse with idolaters 8 . The 
regulations, likewise, concerning leprosy and impuri- 
ties, deliberately or casually contracted, were minutely 
and forcibly enacted, in order to inculcate into the 
minds of the Israelites their peculiar appropriation to 
God's service 9 . The multiplied ceremonies, however, 
and complicated rites which were established in con- 
sequence of these designs, were certainly so numerous, 
and in some instances so embarrassing, that nothing 
but a conviction of their Divine origin could have in- 
fluenced any people to receive them ; especially as the 
wisdom of their spiritual import was not understood at 
first, but only gradually unfolded by the interpreta- 

de Jur. Bell. lib. ii. 15. 9. p. 272, edit. Amstel. 1670. Chrysost. 
Horn, in Gen. xxxix. p. 401. torn. iv. edit. Paris, 1721. 

7 Acts xv. 10. 

8 Lev. xi. 44, 45. xx. 25, 26. Exod. xxxii. 31. Deut. xiv. 2, 
3. 21. Spencer de Legibus Hebrceor. lib. i. c. 7. p. 321. Dave- 
nant in Epist. ad Coloss. ii. 17. p. 230. Edit. Cantab. 1639. Luke 
xix. 7. Acts x. 28. xi. 3. 

9 Levit. xx. 25, 26. 



106 OF THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS. 

tions of the prophets. But the ceremonial law, though 
in fact "a yoke too heavy to be borne," and completely 
obeyed, was, nevertheless, well * adapted to the time 
and the circumstances under which it was delivered, 
and to the dull and perverse nation for which it was 
designed 2 . It did not divert the mind to objects of 
mistaken worship, but led it up to a reverence for God. 
It was, likewise, perfect as to its spiritual intention and 
final views, as a figurative and temporary dispensation. 
The transient 3 character of its ceremonies was not ex- 
plained at first, lest they should be undervalued ; but 
as soon as this religious system was established, its true 
nature began to appear to the people. The inspired 
teachers instructed them, that sacrifices and oblations 
for sin were figurative atonements of little value in the 
eyes of God, if unaccompanied by that faith and by 
those qualifications which he required 4 ; and that, in 
like manner, the outward purifications and observances 
commanded by the Mosaic law, were designed to illus- 
trate the importance of internal righteousness 5 . 

The sacrifices, as well eucharistical as expiatory, of 
which the regulations are prescribed in this book, were 

1 Acts xv. 10. Gal. v. 1. 

2 Deut. xxxii. 28. Jerem. iv. 22. Barrow's 15th Sermon on 
the imperfection of the Jewish Religion, p. 205. vol. ii. Lond. 1686. 
Matt. xix. 8. 

3 Psalm xix 7 — 11. Psalm cxix. 

4 Jerem. vi. 20. vii. 21—23. Isaiah i. 11 — 17. lviii. 6, 7. Ixiii. 
1—3. Hosea vi. 6. Micah vi. 6 — 8. Amos v. 21 — 24. Psalm 
1. 8—14. Ii. 16, 17. 

5 Psalm 1. 8—15. Ii. 16. 17. 1 Sam. xv. 22. Prov. xv. 8. 
Hosea vi. 6. Tsaiah i. 11 — 17. lviii. 6, 7. Zech. vii. 5 — 10. Rom. 
ii. 28, 29. Vid. also Euseb. Praep. Evang. lib. viii. c. 9, 10. p. 171, 
et lib. viii. c. 10. p. 376. 



OF THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS. 107 

by no means first instituted by the Mosaic law, but 
appear to have been adopted, probably by Divine ap- 
pointment, as the earliest mode of worship ; and they 
were offered up by our first parents as an acceptable 
acknowledgment of God's attributes, and in becoming 
profession of human submission and contrite humility 6 . 
They were established, however, under the Mosaic dis- 
pensation, upon their true principles, and commanded 
with 7 circumstances that gave them additional import- 
ance, and which serve to illustrate their real character 
and intention. They were ordained as an atonement 
for the breach of the ritual laws 8 , and delivered the 
people from those civil and ecclesiastical punishments 
to which they were exposed from the wrath of God, 
considered as a political governor. They "sanctified 
to the purifying of the flesh," — washed away legal de- 
filements, but were never intended to wipe off the stains 
of moral guilt, or to avert God's anger against sin, ex- 
cept as figurative of that perfect atonement to be made 
by Him who was to cause the " sacrifice and the obla- 
tion to cease 9 ." They were commemorative acknow- 
ledgments of guilt, and typical pledges only of a suffi- 
cient sacrifice. 

The history of the Israelites advances about one 

6 Gen. iv. 3, 4. Heb. xi. 4. God may be supposed to have ap- 
pointed that to which He " had respect," and which He afterwards 
explicitly commanded. Exod. xx. 24. Rev. xiii. 8. 

7 Heb. ix. x. 1—14. 

8 Falsehood, fraud, and violence, though offences against the moral 
law, might be atoned for by a trespass-offering to God as a civil 
ruler, but only on condition of that ample reparation to the injured 
party, which evinced a sincerity of repentance. Lev. vi. 1 — 7. 

9 Psalm xl. G, 7. Dan. ix. 27. Heb. vii. 19. ix. 9. 

1 



108 OF THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS. 

month in this book, which, like the rest, blends instruc- 
tion and narration in one interesting account. It de- 
scribes the consecration of Aaron and his sons; the 
daring impiety and instant punishment of Nadab and 
Abihu ; and the stoning of the blasphemer ; particulars 
which illustrate God's care for religion, and the jealous 
severity by which he kept up among the Israelites a 
reverence for his name. The relation also is animated 
with some signal predictions that stamp the work with 
additional marks of inspiration. Moses revealed to 
the people their future dispersion among the heathen 
nations; their distress, decline, and desolation; and 
yet consoled them with the promise of mercy to be 
mingled with punishment, in their miraculous pre- 
servation 1 . The book contains, likewise, one most 
remarkable prophecy 2 , the accomplishment of which 
was a standing miracle among the Israelites, and which 
for many ages continued to present an assurance of the 
divine authority and inspiration of Moses. He here 
foretold that every sixth year should produce super- 
fluous plenty to supply the deficiencies of the seventh, 
or sabbatical year, when the land was to remain " un- 
sown, and the vineyards unpruned 3 ;" and this effec- 
tually came to pass : the observance of the law being 
invariably provided for, while it continued to be rever- 
enced. The same assurance was likewise given of a 
spontaneous supply to remedy the inconveniences which 
would otherwise have resulted from that neglect of 

1 Chap. xxvi. The whole of which is a collection of prophetic 
promises and threats, that were strikingly fulfilled. See particularly 
verse 22. compare with 1 Kings xiii. 24 ; 2 Kings ii. 24. 

2 Chap. xxv. 20—22. 3 Chap. xxv. 2—9. 



OF THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS. 109 

cultivation of the land which was enjoined for every 
49th or 50th year 4 ; and to this was annexed a threat, 
that the land should be brought into desolation, and the 
people be scattered among the heathen, there to remain 
for as long a time as they should have neglected the 
laws of the sabbath and jubilee 5 : a prophecy remarkably 
accomplished in the seventy years' captivity of Babylon. 

4 Chap. xxv. 8 — 12. 20 — 23. The Jubilee year either coincided 
with the seventh sabbatical year, or was provided for by additional 
abundance in the 48th year. Vid. Cunaeus de "Republica Heb. c. vi. 
p. 824. Criticor. Sacr. torn. viii. Lond. 1660. Joseph. Antiq. 
lib. iii. cap. xii. p. 128. Edit. Hud. J. Scaliger de Emend. Temp, 
lib. v. 

5 Levit. xxvi. 34, 35. If we suppose these laws to have been 
neglected from the beginning of the reign of Saul, a. m. 2909, to the 
fourth year of Jehoiakim, a. m. 3398, which is probably the true 
period, the seventy years' captivity will exactly allow time for the 
completion of the rest, proportionate to the space of 490 years, during 
which the laws were violated. It is remarkable that the Jews were 
carried away captive towards the conclusion of the sabbatical year, 
Vid. Maimon. Schemitta ve Jobel. cap. x. § 3. 



OF THE 



BOOK OF NUMBERS. 






This Book is called the Book of Numbers, because it 
contains an account of the numbering or mustering of 
the people ; or rather, indeed, of two numberings : the 
first in the beginning of the second year after their 
departure from Egypt : the second in the plains of 
Moab, towards the conclusion of their journey in the 
wilderness l . The Jews entitle the book 2 , Vaie-dab- 
ber, which in the Hebrew is the initial word ; and 
which some (conceiving it to imply a voice from the 
mercy-seat) have supposed to intimate that the mani- 
festations of the Divine will, therein described, were 
imparted from the holy oracle, which the Jews dis- 
tinguished by the name of the word of Jehovah ; and 
some passages from the book might be produced in 
support of this opinion 3 . However this may be, it is 
certain that Moses was the inspired author of the 
book, and that he delivers in it nothing but what is 
consistent with truth, and agreeable to the Divine will, 
since it constitutes part of the Pentateuch, which in all 
ages has been universally ascribed to Moses, and it is 

1 Chap. xxvi. 2 12T1, A.nd he spake. 3 Chap. vii. 89. 



OF THE BOOK OF NUMBERS. Ill 

» 

cited as his inspired work in various parts of Scrip- 
ture 4 . 

The book comprehends a period of about 38 years, 
reckoning from the first day of the second month after 
the deliverance from Egypt, during which time the 
Israelites continued to wander in the wilderness 5 . 
Most of the transactions, however, described therein, 
happened in the first and last of these years. The 
date of those events which are recorded in the middle 
of the book cannot be precisely ascertained. 

The history presents us with an account of the con- 
secration of the Tabernacle, and of the offering of the 
princes at its dedication. It describes the journeys and 
encampments of Israel under the miraculous guidance 
of the cloud ; the punishment at Tabera ; and the 
signal vengeance with which, on several occasions, God 
resented the distrustful murmurs of the people, and 
that rebellious spirit which so often broke out in 
sedition against his appointed ministers, particularly in 
the affair of Korah, which is described with great 
animation ; and the memorial of which was long pre- 
served in the broad plates which were made of the 
censers of the rebellious men for a covering of the 
altar 6 . The promptitude and severity with which God 
enforced a respect for his laws, even to the exemplary 
condemnation of the man who profaned the Sabbath, 

4 Joshua iv. 12. 2 Chron. xxix. 11. xxxi. 3. Ezek. xx. 13. 
xliv. 26, 27. Matt. xii. 5. John vi. 31. xix. 36. Christ himself 
alludes to this book. Comp. xxi. 9. with John iii. 14. 

5 The Israelites were condemned to wander so long in the wilder- 
ness for their ungrateful murmurs and distrust in God. Vid. Numb, 
xiv. 23. 33. But by this segregation many important purposes 
were accomplished. 

8 Chap. xvi. 36—40. 



112 OF THE BOOK OF NUMBERS. 

were necessary, when a sense of the immediate pre- 
sence of the Almighty, and a consideration of miracles 
daily performed, could not influence to obedience. 
Amidst the terrors, however, of the divine judgments 
which the book unfolds, we perceive likewise the con- 
tinuance of God's mercies in providing assistance for 
Moses by the appointment of the seventy elders ; in 
drawing water from the rock ; and in the setting up of 
the brazen serpent. The benevolent zeal of Moses to 
intercede on all occasions for the people, even when 
punished for ungrateful insurrections against himself, 
deserves likewise to be considered. The offices and 
proceedings of different persons and families are de- 
scribed with a minuteness of specification, which could 
result only from truth 7 . The history is animated with 
much variety of event ; and besides the particulars 
above alluded to, it contains an account of the resigna- 
tion and death of Aaron ; of the conquest of Sihon and 
Og ; of the remarkable conduct of Balaam 8 , towards 
Balak 9 ; of the merited fate of Balaam ; of the in- 

7 See Numbers iii. 4. also ix. 13. 

8 Balaam was probably a true prophet, who had been seduced by 
mercenary motives into idolatrous practices, having had recourse to 
heathen enchantments, when he could not procure revelations from 
God. Vid. Numb. xxii. 8. xxiv. 1. 2 Peter ii. 15. He resided 
at Pethor, a city of Mesopotamia, towards the banks of the Euphra- 
tes. Pethor was afterwards called Bozor by the Syrians. Hence 
in 2 Pet. ii. 15. Bakaafi tov Bovop, " Balaam of the city of Bosor." 
Vid, Grotius in loc. 

9 God's anger appears to have been kindled against Balaam as 
well for his general practice of divination, as for his desire to procure 
" the wages of unrighteousness," by cursing those whom God had 
blessed. Maimonides absurdly represents the speaking of Balaam's 
ass as a circumstance executed only in vision, though there is no 



OF THE BOOK OF NUMBERS. 1 1 3 

sidious project to seduce the Israelites ; its success and 
effects ; and of the appointment of Joshua. We per- 
ceive in every relation the consistency of the divine 
intentions, and the propriety of the laws which God 
established. When we contemplate, for instance, the 
flagrant wickedness practised by idolatrous nations, we 
cannot wonder at the rigorous commands l delivered 
for the extirpation of the inhabitants of Canaan, and 
the punishment of those who gave way to the seduc- 
tion of strange worship 2 ; or that the Almighty should 
desire to purge from pollution' a land which was to be 
consecrated to his service. The book contains likewise 
a repetition of many principal laws given for the 
direction of the Israelites, with the addition of several 
precepts, civil and religious. It describes some regula- 
tions established for the ordering of the tribes, and for 
the division of the land which the Israelites were about 
to possess. It should seem, that the direction was 
given to distribute the land by lot, in order that the 
completion of the divine promises expressed by Jacob 
and others, with respect to the several tribes, might be 
fully shown to have resulted from the arbitration and 
control of Providence 3 . The book presents us also 
with a list of the tribes ; with that of Levi in particu- 

shadow of reason why it should not be considered as the account of 
a real event. Objections to miracles drawn from their difficulty are 
preposterous when applied to an omnipotent Being ; and that Moses 
should not stop to describe the surprise of Balaam, was as consistent 
with the gravity, as with the conciseness of his history. 2 Pet. ii. 
15. and Jos. Antiq. lib. iv. c. 6. Vid. Maim. More Nevoch. part ii. 
c. xlii. p. 310. 

1 Deut. xii. 1—6. xiii. 12—17- xx. 10—18. 

2 Chap. iii. 4. See also Leviticus xx. 1 — 5. 

3 Chap. xxvi. 55. compare with Gen. xlix. 

I 



114 OF THE BOOK OF NUMBERS. 

lar, which is reserved for a distinct roll, because in 
possession of an order in the priesthood. 

With respect to the numberings which are made in 
this book, it must be observed first, that the tribes are 
not reckoned in the order in which their leaders were 
born, but in that of their respective mothers, or ac- 
cording to their accidental or acquired precedence. 
2dly. That only those males who were twenty years old 
and upwards are reckoned. And 3dly. That Ephraim 4 
and Manasseh are mentioned as two distinct tribes; 
but for the particular reasons of every arrangement in 
the order and circumstances of this enumeration, we 
must have recourse to the commentators at large. 
From these an ample solution of the difficulties which 
occur in considering the particulars of the numberings 
may be obtained 5 . 

The most signal prophecies which are contained in 
this book, and bear testimony to its inspiration, are 
the blessings which Balaam 6 was constrained to utter 
concerning the future prosperity of the Israelites 7 , 
and the destruction of their several enemies 8 ; espe- 

4 In the number of the tribe of Ephraim compared with that of 
Manasseh, we perceive the accomplishment of Jacob's prophecy. 
Comp. Numb. i. 33 — 35. with Gen. xlviii. 19, 20. Comp. also for 
similar illustration, Numb. i. 21. with Gen. xlix. 3, 4. and Numb. i. 
27. with Gen. xlix, 8. 

5 Hieron. Com. Parker's Introd. to Numb. Lewis's Antiq. Heb. 
Repub. lib. viii. 

6 Though God had probably rejected Balaam as an apostate pro- 
phet, He designed to employ him on this signal occasion as the herald 
of the divine oracles : to illustrate the impotency of the heathen 
arts, and to demonstrate the power and foreknowledge of the divine 
Spirit. 

7 Chap, xxiii. 8—10. 23. xxiv. 8. 8 Chap. xxiv. 



OF THE BOOK OF NUMBERS. 1 1 5 

cially iii that distinct and extatic description of the 
" Star which should come out of Jacob, and of the 
Sceptre that should rise out of Israel V The denun- 
ciation likewise against Moses and Aaron for their 
disbelief l , as well as the threats against the people for 
their murmurs 2 , and the declaration, that none but 
Caleb and Joshua should enter the land, were strikingly 
fulfilled ; it may be added, that the rites of the Pass- 
over, of which the observance is again enjoined in this 
book 3 , were figurative representations of a predictive 
character. 

9 Chap. xxiv. 17. 19. The expression of "the Star" might be 
chosen in allusion to those portentous lights which were supposed to 
precede the appearance of illustrious personages ; and it is remark- 
able, that, as if in exact conformity with Balaam's prophecy, " a 
star in the east" indicated the time and place of our Saviour's na- 
tivity. Vid. Matt. ch. ii. Hence the false Christs that appeared in 
the earlier ages, and particularly in the time of Trajan, assumed the 
title of Bar Chochab, that is, the Son of the Star. Talmud. Bab. 
Sanhedrim, c. Chelek. et Maimon. 

1 Chap. xx. 8. 12—28. xxvii. 12 — 14. and Patrick in loc, 

2 Chap. xiv. 20—36. 

3 Chap. ix. 12. comp. with John xix. 36. 



i 2 



OF THE 



BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY, 



The fifth and last Book of the Pentateuch is distin- 
guished among the Jews by its initial word 1 ; though 
sometimes the Rabbinical writers call it the Book of 
reprehensions ; in allusion to the frequent reproaches 
which it contains against the Israelites. It is also 
denominated Thora, which implies the Law ; as well as 
Misna, a copy of the law ; a word which corresponds 
with the title that the Seventy have given it, Deuteron- 
omy 2 signifying a repetition of the law. It contains 
indeed a compendious recapitulation of the law ; illus- 
trated by many explanatory additions, and enforced by 
the strongest and most pathetic exhortations to obedi- 
ence ; as well for the more forcible impression on the 
Israelites in general, as in particular for the benefit of 
those who being born in the wilderness were not present 
at the first promulgation of the law 3 . The variations 

1 D'Hl'in H^Nt these words. 

2 From hi.vre.pog v6fj.og, a second Law. 

3 Moses in his address to the Israelites observes, that " the Lord 
made not the covenant with their fathers, but with those then alive ;" 
for though many who were present at Sinai were now dead, many 
also must have been still living ; those only having perished in con- 



OF THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY. 117 

which it exhibits are such as resulted from a change 
of circumstances when the people were about to enter 
the promised land. It is a kind of manual of divine 
wisdom ; a commentary on the decalogue ; and contains 
such laws as concerned the people in general, as to 
their civil, military, and religious government, omitting 
for the most part what related to the Priests and 
Levites. It was delivered by Moses, a little time pre- 
vious to his death, to the people whom he had long 
governed and instructed ; and was bequeathed, with his 
other writings, to the charge of the Levites *, as the 
most valuable testimony of his regard, in the fortieth 
year after the departure from Egypt, A.M. 2552. 

The book opens with an interesting address to the 
Israelites, in which Moses briefly recapitulates the 
many circumstances in which they had experienced 
the divine favour since their departure from Horeb. 
He appeals to them as living witnesses of the miracles 
which God had wrought 5 . He describes the success 
and victories which had marked their progress ; the dis- 
criminating course which they were directed to pursue 6 ; 

sequence of God's threats, who were twenty years old and upwards 
when they offended Him by their murmurs ; and even of those con- 
demned to die in the wilderness, many might, like Moses, be suffered 
to behold the land which they were not to enter. Moses, however, 
may perhaps mean only, that God made not that solemn covenant 
with their forefathers, the patriarchs, but with the generation of his 
contemporaries. Vid. Xumb. xiv. 29. Deut. v. 3. and Calmet and 
Estius in loc. 

4 Chap. xxxi. 26. The two tables of the decalogue were placed 
in the ark ; the rest of the law in the side of the ark. Vid. 1 Kings 
viii. 9. Patrick in Deut. xxxi. 26. 

5 xi. 2, 3, 4. 

6 Compare Gen. xxxvi. 8. with Deut. ii. 4, 5. and Josh. xxiv. 4. 



118 OF THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY. 

the incredulous murmurs and ingratitude, by which the 
people had incensed God ; and the effects of the divine 
wrath ; especially in the inexorable decree by which he 
himself had been debarred from that land, for the pos- 
session of which he had so earnestly toiled. He 
proceeds with the most animated zeal to exhort them 
to future obedience ; and to rehearse in a discourse, 
renewed at intervals, the various commandments, sta- 
tutes, and judgments, which had been delivered to them 
by God, that they might become " a wise and under- 
standing nation ;" and fulfil the terms of that covenant 
which the Lord had made with them in Horeb. He 
speaks with full assurance of the conquest of Judaea, 
which he was not to enter 7 , and of the establishment 
and future protection and victories of the people 8 . 
This is often done with a disregard of human means of 
defence 9 , and with a consideration for individuals l 
which argued a reliance on the divine aid. Moses 
while he intersperses with these laws frequent reproaches 
for their past misconduct, unfolds the glorious attri- 
butes of God 2 , and reiterates every persuasive motive 
to obedience. He commands them to distinguish their 
first entrance to Canaan, by a public display of reve- 
rence for God's law : by erecting stones on which all 
its words and precepts might be inscribed 3 . He enters 
into a new covenant with the people ; which not only 
included that previously made at Horeb, but which re- 

7 Deut. xxxii. 5L. Joshua iii. 2. 

8 Chap. ix. 1—6. 9 Chap. xvii. 4. 20. 
1 Chap. xx. 5—8. 2 Chap. ix. 1—6. 

3 Chap, xxvii. 1 — 5. Moses expressly commands, that " all the 
words of the law" should be written, which cannot mean, as some 
have supposed, merely the decalogue. 



OF THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY. 119 

newed also and ratified those assurances of spiritual 
blessings, long before imparted to Abraham and his de- 
scendants 4 . He then, in consistency with the promises 
and sanctions of both covenants, sets forth for their 
election, " life and good, and death and evil :" temporal 
and eternal recompence, or present and future punish- 
ment 5 . 

In the preceding books of the Pentateuch, Moses 
speaks of himself in the third person, but here in a 
more animated manner, he drops as it were the cha- 
racter of an historian, and is introduced as immediately 
addressing himself to his countrymen 6 . Hence it is, 
that in describing what he had uttered, he repeats the 
decalogue with some slight change of expression from 
that which was used at its first delivery ; a variation 
which, as it affected not the import of the command- 
ment, might have served to indicate, that not the letter, 
but the spirit of the law should be regarded : he like- 
wise introduces some general alterations in the code 
that he presents, which should be considered as supple- 
mentary additions required by a change of time and 
circumstances ; and he takes occasion to intimate 
that spiritual intention of the law, which was de- 
signed for the inward government of man 7 . It 

4 Chap. xxix. 12, 13. Bishop Bull seems to have thought that 
this covenant was different from that made at Sinai ; and that it con- 
tained a renewal of the covenant made with Abraham. Bull's 
Harmon. Apost. Disser. Poster, c. xi. p. 77. Edit. Lond. 

5 Maimonides, conscious that the Mosaic promises of temporal 
reward were figurative of future recompence, gives this traditionary 
explanation of the sanction in Deut. iv. 40. Ut bene sit tib'i " in sae- 
culo quod totum est bonum." Et prolonges dies " in saeculum quod 
totum est longum." 

6 Chap. i. 6. ii. 17. iv. 8. ix. 13. x. 3. 

7 Chap. x. 16. 



120 OP THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY. 

should be here remarked, that the severe spirit which 
pervades the law, as shown in the numerous exactions 
and declaratory curses 8 , detailed in this book, was 
consistently contrived to point out the rigorous character 
of the divine justice, which, in a covenant of stipulated 
observances, necessarily called for punctilious and uni- 
form obedience 9 , and punished a transgression of the 
legislator by exclusion from Canaan. For though the 
divine mercy might have compassionated the weakness 
of human nature, and, therefore, prescribed atonements 
not difficult to be paid; yet God could not, in con- 
formity with his relation to the Israelites, (if we may 
presume so to express ourselves,) over-look even in- 
voluntary deficiencies or casual defilement. A similar 
spirit of stern equity appeared as to the civil regu- 
lations of society ; and the law not only suffered, but 
required an exact retaliation : " Life for life, eye for eye, 
tooth for tooth 1 ." A requisition which, while it strongly 
enforced God's abhorrence of injuries, was not likely to 
be abused under a government which provided cities of 
refuge for undesigning offenders, and administered its 
judgments upon principles universally known and ac- 
cepted. 

8 Chap, xxvii. 

9 Deut. xxvii. 26. The law rigorously enforced the observance 
of whatever it enjoined, though many precepts were framed with 
somewhat of lax and indulgent consideration of what the perverse 
temper of the Israelites wouid bear ; thus as they had been long 
accustomed to divorces, it was judged right, rather to restrict by 
deliberate regulations, than entirely to abolish them, which might 
have occasioned bad consequences. Vid. Deut. xxiv. 1 — 4. Matt. 
v. 31. xix. 7. Selden, Uxor. Heb. lib. 3. ch. 24. p. 796. The laws 
with respect to paternal authority were rather injunctions to control 
the unbounded power which parents, among other nations, did pos- 
sees over their children, than to invest them with new rights. 

1 Vide ch. xix. 21. 



OF THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY. 121 

The book contains a period of nearly two months : 
a history of the conclusion of the life of Moses, whose 
last days were distinguished by increasing solicitude, 
and the most active exertions for the welfare of his 
people. After a commemorative hymn 2 , in which he 
pathetically exhorts them "to consider their latter end ;" 
and after having uttered his prophetic blessings, deli- 
vered with wonderful intuition of futurity, in solemn 
and appropriate promises to the several tribes ; this 
great man is represented to have retired, by divine 
command, to the top of Mount Nebo ; from whence 
he had a prospect of Canaan, and foresaw the speedy 
accomplishment of God's promises. He then, in the 
full possession of his powers and faculties, " when his 
eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated," died in 
the 120th year of his age. 

The mention of Dan 3 in the first verse of the last 
chapter of this book, as well as the account of the death 
and burial of Moses, and some other seemingly posthu- 

2 The fine attestation to the praise of God which is contained in 
the 4th verse of this hymn, is prefixed as a beginning to the prayer 
which the Jews repeat at the burial of their dead, and which they 
call Tzidduck haddin, that is, "just judgment." Vid. Patrick in 
Deut. xxxii. 4. 

3 It has been asserted, that some names used in the Pentateuch 
were not applied to the places which they described till after the 
events mentioned, nor even till after the death of Moses, and that 
some observations seem adapted to a later period. If the truth of 
this assertion could be proved, we might suppose the modern names 
to be substituted by Ezra, or some prophet posterior to Moses, for 
the information of later times ; but the assertion often proceeds from 
mistake, or from want of distinction. For instance, the Dan spoken 
of by Moses, Gen. xiv. 14. Deut. xxxiv. 1. might be different from 
the place so named in Judges xviii. 29. Josephus represents it to 
have been near one of the sources of the Jordan. Antiq. lib. i. c. 10. 



122 OF THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY. 

mous particulars therein described 4 , have been produced 
to prove that this chapter could not be written by 
Moses ; and in all probability these circumstances 
were inserted by Joshua, to complete the history of this 
illustrious prophet; or by Samuel, or some prophet 
who succeeded him. They were admitted by Ezra as 
authentic, and we have no reason to question the 
fidelity of the account. 

The book is cited as the book of Moses in many parts 
of Scripture 5 ; and numberless passages are produced 
from its testimony, by Christ and his Apostles 6 . It 
deserves also to be particularly considered, that our 
blessed Saviour, when under temptation, employed 
in three several instances nearly or exactly the words 
of this book, as of inspired authority, to repel the 
seductions of Satan 7 . 

With respect to the prophetic part of Deuteronomy, 
it should be remarked, that the Messiah is here more 
explicitly foretold than in the preceding books, and 

4 There has been a frivolous cavil on the first verse of this book, 
where Moses is said to have written " on this side," which the Se- 
venty render "beyond Jordan." The word nnm applies to either 
side with relation to the speaker. Vid. Jos. xii. 1 — 7. 1 Sam. 
xiv. 20. Huet. Demon. Evang. Prop. iv. c. 14. sect. 19, p. 145. 
Witsius Miscel. Sac. lib. i. c. 14. Philo de Vit. Mos. lib. iii. Jo- 
sephus, who omits some particulars of the account, supposes Moses 
to have written the statement of his own death by anticipation, with 
design to prevent his countrymen from any presumptuous assertion 
that he was, on account of the greatness of his virtue, translated to 
God. Antiq. lib. iv. c. 48, page 176. 

5 Josh. i. 5 — 7. 1 Kings ii. 3. 2 Chron. xxv. 4. Dan. ix. 
13, &c. 

6 Matt. iv. 4. xv. 4. John i. 45. Acts iii. 22. Gal. iii. 13. 

7 Matt. iv. 4. 7. 10, compare with viii. 3. vi. 16. 13. 



OF THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY. 123 

described as the completion of the Jewish ceconomy. 
"I will raise them up a prophet from among their 
brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his 
mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall 
command him 8 ." 

The prophecies of Moses increase in number and 
clearness towards the close of his writings. As he 
approached the end of his life, he appears to have dis- 
cerned futurity with more exactness. His foreknow- 
ledge of the change from a theocracy to a regal govern- 
ment 9 ; his description of the apostacy and corruption 
of the people l ; his denunciations of their consequent 
punishments; their success and deliverances 2 ; dis- 
persions and desolations 3 ; the gradual extermination 
of the people of the land 4 , which were to be accom- 
plished by events beyond the control of human power ; 
his prophetic blessings on the tribes 5 ; his revelation as 
to the captivities and idolatry of the people and their 
king 6 ; his representation of the rapid victories of the 
Romans 7 ; his detail of the miseries to be sustained by 

8 Deut. xviii. 15, compare with John i. 45. vi. 14. Acts iii. 22. 
vii. 37. See also a law which has a prophetic allusion to Christ, 
chap. xxi. 22, 23, compare with Gal. iii. 13. John v. 46. 

9 Chap. xvii. 14, 15. 1 Chap. xxxi. 27—29. 

2 Chap. xxx. 1 — 6, compare with Nehem. i. 8, 9. 

3 Chap. iv. 25—30. vii. 20. xi. 23—29. xxviii. xxx. xxxi. 2, 3 
— 8. xxxii. and xxxiii. and Joshua xxiv. 12. 

4 Chap. vii. 22. 5 Chap, xxxiii. 

6 Chap, xxviii. 36, compare with 2 Kings xxiv. 15. xxv. 7. 
Jerem. xxxix. 7. Hi. 11. 

7 Chap, xxviii. 49 — 52. The Romans are pourtrayed under the 
description of an eagle, in allusion to the image with which their 
standard was decorated. It is remarkable also, that the enemy was 
to come " from the end of the earth ;" and Vespasian, in fact, came 
from Britain against Jerusalem. 



124 OF THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY. 

his besieged countrymen 8 ; and particularly his prophe- 
cies relative to their present conduct and condition, as 
accomplished under our own observation 9 , bear strik- 
ing evidence to the truth and inspiration of his writings, 
and fearfully illustrate the character of the divine attri- 
butes. 

The code of laws which he consecrated was favour- 
able to civil freedom, and provided for the just rights of 
the subject. The sovereigns, who it was foreseen would 
be appointed, were instructed not to oppress the people, 
but to keep the law and the statutes, and to write a 
copy of the law in a book out of that which should be 
in the custody of the Levites ! . 

The book of Deuteronomy brings down the sacred 
history to a.m. 2552, and completes the volume of the 
Pentateuch, of which every part is uniformly and con- 
sistently perfect. 

8 Chap, xxviii. 52 — 58, comp. with Joseph, de Bell. Jud. lib. v. 
vi. see also Antiq. lib. xv. c. 9. 

9 Chap, xxviii. in which a chain of illustrious prophecies is de- 
livered in one complicated denunciation, and various calamities are 
blended under one point of view. Vid. Newton on the Prophecies, 
7th Dissert. 

1 Deut. xvii. 18 — 20. 



GENERAL PREFACE 



HISTORICAL BOOKS. 



The historical books of Scripture were written by per- 
sons who composed them under the influence of the 
Holy Spirit. Some of them are designated by the 
names of distinguished prophets ; and the rest are uni- 
versally attributed to writers invested with the same 
character- The Hebrew annals were kept only by pri- 
vileged and appointed persons 1 , and the writers, who 
are occasionally mentioned in Scripture as the penmen 
of the sacred history, are expressly denominated pro- 
phets or seers 2 . It is evident, likewise, that the authors 
of the historical, as well as of the prophetical books, 
must have been inspired, since they every where dis- 
play an acquaintance with the counsels and designs of 
God, develope the secret springs and recondite wisdom 
of his government, and reveal his future mercies 
and judgments in the clearest predictions. They uni- 
formly adhere to the most excellent instruction, illus- 
trate the perfection of God's attributes, and exemplify 
the tendency of his precepts. They invariably maintain 

1 Via". Joseph, cont. Apion. lib. i. § 7. p. 1333. 

2 I Sam. xxii. 5. 1 Kings xvi. 1. 7- 1 Chron. xxix. 29. 2 
Chron. xii. 15. xx. 34. xxvi. 22. xxxii. 32. Jerera. xxviii. 7. 



124 OF THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY. 

his besieged countrymen 8 ; and particularly his prophe- 
cies relative to their present conduct and condition, as 
accomplished under our own observation 9 , bear strik- 
ing evidence to the truth and inspiration of his writings, 
and fearfully illustrate the character of the divine attri- 
butes. 

The code of laws which he consecrated was favour- 
able to civil freedom, and provided for the just rights of 
the subject. The sovereigns, who it was foreseen would 
be appointed, were instructed not to oppress the people, 
but to keep the law and the statutes, and to write a 
copy of the law in a book out of that which should be 
in the custody of the Levites \ 

The book of Deuteronomy brings down the sacred 
history to a.m. 2552, and completes the volume of the 
Pentateuch, of which every part is uniformly and con- 
sistently perfect. 

8 Chap, xxviii. 52 — 58, comp. with Joseph, de Bell. Jud. lib. v. 
vi. see also Antiq. lib. xv. c. 9. 

9 Chap, xxviii. in which a chain of illustrious prophecies is de- 
livered in one complicated denunciation, and various calamities are 
blended under one point of view. Vid. Newton on the Prophecies, 
7th Dissert. 

1 Deut. xvii. 18—20. 



GENERAL PREFACE 



TO THE 



HISTORICAL BOOKS. 



The historical books of Scripture were written by per- 
sons who composed them under the influence of the 
Holy Spirit. Some of them are designated by the 
names of distinguished prophets ; and the rest are uni- 
versally attributed to waiters invested with the same 
character. The Hebrew annals were kept only by pri- 
vileged and appointed persons 1 , and the writers, who 
are occasionally mentioned in Scripture as the penmen 
of the sacred history, are expressly denominated pro- 
phets or seers 2 . It is evident, likewise, that the authors 
of the historical, as well as of the prophetical books, 
must have been inspired, since they every where dis- 
play an acquaintance with the counsels and designs of 
God, develope the secret springs and recondite wisdom 
of his government, and reveal his future mercies 
and judgments in the clearest predictions. They uni- 
formly adhere to the most excellent instruction, illus- 
trate the perfection of God's attributes, and exemplify 
the tendency of his precepts. They invariably maintain 

1 Vid. Joseph, cont. Apion. lib. i. § 7. p. 1333. 

2 I Sam. xxii. 5. 1 Kings xvi. 1. 7. 1 Chron. xxix. 29. 2 
Chron. xii. 15. xx. 34. xxvi. 22. xxxii. 32. Jerera. xxviii. 7. 



126 GENERAL PREFACE 

a strict sincerity of intention; and in their descrip- 
tion of character and event, exhibit an unexampled 
impartiality. Their writings were received as sacred 
into the Hebrew canon, and in Ezra's collection they 
were arranged under the class of prophetical books. 
The books of Joshua, of Judges, (including Ruth,) of 
Samuel, and of Kings, were called the books of the 
former prophets 3 ; and considered as the production 
not only of enlightened men of unimpeached veracity, 
exalted character, and disinterested views ; but of per- 
sons who were occasionally favoured with precise reve- 
lations ; who unquestionably wrote under a divine im- 
pulse, and were employed to register the judgments 
and designs of God ; and as such, indeed, they are cited 
by the evangelical writers. 

It is clear, from all these considerations, that the 
sacred historians wrote under the influence of the Holy 
Ghost ; which, though it did not disclose to them by 
immediate revelation those things that might be col- 
lected from the common sources of intelligence, un- 
doubtedly directed them in the selection of their mate- 
rials ; and enlightened them to judge of the truth and 
importance of those accounts from which they borrowed 
their information. The historical books appear, in- 
deed, to have been generally written by authors con- 
temporary with those periods to which they severally 
relate ; and hence they often describe such particulars 
as the prophets themselves had witnessed ; and contain 
such minute and accurate descriptions, as none but 
authors coeval with the events could have furnished. 
Some of them, however, were compiled in subsequent 

3 Those of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the twelve minor pro- 
phets, being styled the Books of the later Prophets. 

3 



TO THE HISTORICAL BOOKS. 127 

times ; and then they may be supposed to have been in 
part collected from those authentic documents that were 
known and esteemed by their countrymen ; and to have 
been enlarged with such additional particulars as must 
have been derived from divine communications im- 
parted to themselves or others. These books are to be 
considered, indeed, as the histories of revelations ; as 
commentaries on the prophecies, and as affording a 
lively sketch of the economy of God's government of 
his selected people. They were not designed as na- 
tional annals, to record every minute particular and 
political event that occurred ; but they afford rather a 
compendious selection of such remarkable occurrences 
as were best calculated to illustrate the religion of the 
Hebrew nation ; to set before that perverse and un- 
grateful people, an abstract of God's j)roceedings, and 
of their interests and duties ; and also to transmit to 
posterity an instructive memorial of God's judgments, 
to hold up a model of that dispensation on which a 
nobler and more spiritual government was to be erected. 
It is, indeed, evident that some more diffusive and 
circumstantial records were sometimes kept by the 
priests, or other publicly-appointed persons 4 ; for to 
such records the sacred writers occasionally allude, as 
bearing testimony to their accounts ; or refer to them 
for a more minute detail of those particulars which 

* Josephus speaks of genealogical registers as distinct from the 
twenty-two canonical books ; and observes, that they contained the 
names of the Hebrew priests for a succession of 2000 years. He 
mentions, also, other accounts from the reign of Artaxerxes, which 
were not deemed of the same authority, as there was not then 
any regular succession of the priests. Cont. Apion. lib. i. § 7, 8. 
p. 1333. 



128 GENERAL PREFACE 

they omit, as inconsistent with their designs. These, 
however, not being composed by inspired writers, were 
not admitted into the sacred canon ; and though Jo- 
sephus informs us that the priests were accustomed, 
after every war, carefully to correct and to reform their 
registers 5 : and the author of the second book of Mac- 
cabees mentions, that Judas Maccabeus gathered to- 
gether " those things that were lost by reason of the 
war 6 ;" yet, after the abolition of the Jewish priest- 
hood, and the many calamities, persecutions, and dis- 
persions which this whole nation has suffered, we need 
not wonder that these voluminous writings have pe- 
rished ; and indeed it required the especial protection 
of Providence, as well as that reverential regard 
which the Jews entertained for the sacred books, to 
preserve their canon from destruction or injury. We 
have, however, the less reason to regret the loss of 
other Jewish writings, since the Scriptures present us 
with the scheme of prophecy, and with the account of 
that peculiar economy by which the Jews were distin- 
guished from all other nations. 

The historical books of Scripture, if considered dis- 
tinctly from the Pentateuch, and the writings more 
particularly styled prophetical, contain a compendium of 
the Jewish history from the death of Moses, a.m. 2553, 
to the reformation established by Nehemiah after the 
return from the captivity, a.m. 3595. After the death of 
Moses, Joshua continued to record those miraculous 
particulars which demonstrated the divine interposition 

5 The keepers of these genealogies are sometimes called Maschi- 
rim, Recorders or Memorialists. 2 Sam. viii. 16. 2 Kings xviii. 18. 
1 Chron. xviii. 15. 2 Chron. xxxiv. 8. I Mace. xiv. 23. 2 Mace. ii. 1. 

6 2 Mace. ii. 14. 



TO THE HISTORICAL BOOKS. 129 

in favour of the Israelites, and to commemorate the 
events that preceded and accomplished their settlement 
in the land of Canaan. The eventful period which 
succeeded the death of Joshua, during which the He- 
brews were subjected to the government of the Judges, 
as ministers of the theocracy, opened a large scope for 
the industry of the sacred historians. Samuel, or some 
other prophet, appears to have selected such particulars 
as were best calculated to describe the period ; and to 
have digested them into the Book of Judges ; having 
doubtless procured much information from the records 
of the Priests or Judges, some of whom were inspired, 
though prophetic revelations were " scarce in those 
days 7 ;" and divine communications were made by 
means of the Urim and Thummim 8 . From the time 



7 1 Sara. iii. 1. 

8 Exod. xxviii. 30. Levit. viii. 8. Numb, xxvii. 21 The 
Urim and Thummim, which words signify light and perfection, are 
applied to a miraculous ornament worn on the breast-plate of the 
high-priest, and are supposed by some to be descriptive of the 
twelve jewels in the breast-plate, which were engraven with the 
names of the tribes of Israel ; but which perhaps meant something 
distinct from these. Compare Exod. xxxix. 10, with Levit. viii. 
8. Some imagine that they were oracular figures that gave articu- 
late answers ; others, that they implied only a plate of gold, en- 
graven with the Tetragrammaton, or sacred name of Jehovah. What- 
ever the ornament was, it enabled the high-priest to collect divine 
instruction upon occasions of national importance. Some conceive 
that the intelligence was imparted by an extraordinary protrusion or 
splendour of the different letters. But others, with more reason, 
think that the Urim and Thummim only qualified the priest to pre- 
sent, himself in the holy place, to receive answers from the mercy- 
seat in the tabernacle; and in the camp from some other consecrated 
place whence the divine voice might issue. Vid. Prid. Connect. 
pt. i. book iii. p. 119. Jennings's Jewish Antiq. book i. c. v. p. 

K 



130 GENERAL PREFACE 

of Samuel, the Jews seem to have been favoured with 
a regular succession of prophets, who, in an uninter- 
rupted series, bequeathed to each other, with the 
mantle of prophecy, the charge of commemorating such 
important particulars as were consistent with the plan 
of sacred history ; and who, superior to the ostentation 
of prefixing their names to their several contributions, 
took up the history where the preceding prophet 
ceased, without distinguishing their respective por- 
tions. It is possible, however, that the books of 
Kings and of Chronicles do not contain a complete 
compilation of the entire works of each contemporary 
prophet; but rather an abridgment of their several 
labours, digested by Ezra, in or after the captivity, 
with intention to exhibit the sacred history at one 
point of view : and hence it is that they contain some 
expressions which evidently result from contemporary 
description ; and others, that as clearly argue them to 
have been completed long after the occurrences which 
they relate. Hence also it is, that though particular 
periods are more diffusively treated of than others, 
we still find, throughout, a connected series of events, 
and in each individual book a general uniformity of 
style. 

The object of the sacred historians was to communi- 
cate instruction to mankind, and to illustrate the na- 
ture of God's providence in small, as well as in great 
occurrences — in particular instances, as well as in 
general appointments ; they, therefore, often descend 
from t^ie great outline of national concerns to the 
minute detail of private life. The relations, however, 

233-7. vol. 1st. London, 1766. Philo-Jud. de Monarch, lib. ii. 
p. 226. vol. ii. edit. Mangey. Spencer's Urim and Thummim. 



TO THE HISTORICAL BOOKS. 131 

of individual events, that are occasionally interspersed, 
are highly interesting, and given with dramatic effect ; 
while they admirably develope the designs of the 
Almighty, and the character of those times to which 
they are respectively assigned. Those seeming digres- 
sions, likewise, in which the inspired writers have re- 
corded such remarkable events as related to particular 
personages, or such occurrences in foreign countries, as 
tended to affect the interests of the Hebrew nation, 
are not only valuable for the religious spirit which 
they breathe, but are to be admired as strictly consis- 
tent with the sacred plan. Thus the histories of Job, 
of Ruth, and of Esther, though apparently extrinsic 
appendages, are in reality connected parts of one en- 
tire fabric ; and exhibit, in minute delineation, that 
wisdom which is elsewhere displayed on a larger scale ; 
as they likewise present an engaging picture of that 
private virtue, which in an extended influence operated 
to national prosperity. These books constitute, then, 
an important part of the sacred volume ; which un- 
folds a complete code of instructive lessons, conveyed 
under every form, diversified with every style of com- 
position, and enlivened with every illustration of cir- 
cumstance. 

While the twelve tribes were united under one go- 
vernment, their history is represented under one point of 
view. When a separation took place, the kingdom of 
Judah, from which tribe the Messiah was to descend, 
was the chief object of attention with the sacred histo- 
rians ; they, however, occasionally treat of the events 
that occurred in Samaria, especially when connected 
with the concerns of Judah : they draw instructive 

k2 



132 GENERAL PREFACE 

accounts of the government of Israel, from the separa- 
tion of the ten tribes to their captivity ; and place the 
circumstances which produced this infliction of punish- 
ment in striking colours before the inhabitants of 
Judah, whose unrighteousness was afterwards punished 
by a similar fate. Some account of the events which 
occurred in Samaria, was kept probably by those pro- 
phets, who were born, or laboured among the people of 
that country 9 ; and the same persons supplied mate- 
rials for the sacred authors of the historical books who 
were prophets of Judah. 

The prophets who were mercifully raised up to con- 
sole the Hebrew nation during the Babylonish capti- 
vity, have scattered among their predictions some few 
lines of contemporary history ; but they have not com- 
municated any particular account of the circumstances 
that distinguished the condition of their countrymen ; 
who, however, must have received every possible miti- 
gation of the severity of their affliction, from the good 
offices of such among them as conciliated the favour of 
the Babylonish sovereigns ; and from the prophetic 
assurances which opened to them the prospect of a re- 
turn to their country. 

As the succession of the prophets ceased in Malachi, 
the volume of the sacred history was closed with the 
account of the restoration of the Jews, and of their 
exertions to rebuild their cities, and to re-establish the 
order and security of their government. The last de- 
scription represents them settled and reformed by the 
pious zeal of Nehemiah, and animated by the expec- 

9 1 Kings xix. 18. xi. 29. xiv. 2. xvi. 7- 2 Chron. xxviii. 9. 



TO THE HISTORICAL BOOKS 133 

tation of that " greater glory," which should shine in 
their latter temple, when " the desire of all nations 
should come V 

In possession of the complete volume of the Scrip- 
tures, the Jews required no further revelations of the 
Divine will to explain and inculcate the terms of their 
acceptance. Enabled by the sacred records to look 
back on the vicissitudes which their nation had expe- 
rienced, and to contemplate the character of God's 
judgments in instructive scenes, they needed no longer 
any living prophet to warn them of that wrath which 
sin and idolatry would provoke 2 , or to assure them of 
that recompence which obedience would obtain. The 
design and character also of the old covenant, its spi- 
ritual import, and its figurative contexture, were now 
unravelled for the instruction of mankind, and no fit 
subject remained for the employment of inspired 
writers till the appearance of a new dispensation. 
Of the period, therefore, that intervened between the 
death of Malachi and the arrival of that messenger 
whom he foretold, no sacred account exists \ An 
awful interval of expectation prevailed before the 
coming of him who was to appear, on which period but 
little light is thrown by the occasional accounts of 
apocryphal and profane historians. The nation, how- 
ever, seems to have been successively subjected to the 
Persian, Grecian, Egyptian, and Syrian monarchies, till 
rescued into liberty by the valour of the Maccabees, in 
whom the successors of David were re-established on 
the throne. These continued to flourish with dimi- 



1 Haggai ii. 7. 9. 2 Lake xvi. 29. 31 

3 Eusebius attempts not to go beyond Zerubbabel. 



136 GENERAL PREFACE 

accomplishment of prophecy. If with regard to these, 
or other minute particulars, the sacred books now seem 
to contain any inconsistencies or errors, they must be 
attributed to the negligence of copyists, and to the 
insensible corruptions which naturally arise from fre- 
quent transcription, especially in such points. The 
errors, however, which industrious objection affects to dis- 
cover, are often imaginary ; and it is not probable, even 
if we could suppose the authors of these books to have 
been merely human, uninspired writers, that they should 
have been so little conversant with the history of their 
country as to be chargeable with the contradictions 
which modern commentators have pretended to point 
out; and which, if they had existed, must, as more 
glaring to their contemporaries whom they addressed, 
have necessarily destroyed their credit. The truth 
is, that if we are sometimes perplexed with diffi- 
culties, it is in consequence of the want of coeval 
accounts, and an effect of that obscurity which must 
be supposed to overshadow periods so long elapsed. 
The genealogical and chronological differences which 
are said sometimes to prevail, have arisen not only 
from the corruptions to which numbers are particularly 
subject, but from the different scope which the writers 
took 6 . 

In the detail of lineage, the sacred historians have 
inserted only illustrious persons, and sometimes added 
collateral kindred. They occasionally altered names, 
where variety admitted preference, as was customary 
among eastern nations ; and in chronological accounts 

6 Le Clerc Sentirnens de quelques Theol. Theorioret Praef. in 
Quest. Lib. Keg. p. 230. edit. Lutet. Paris. 1642. R. David 
Kimchi, Michael, &c. 



TO THE HISTORICAL BOOKS. 137 

they calculated frequently in round numbers, where 
accuracy was not of any consequence 7 . They likewise 
assumed various seras. Thus in Genesis, Moses reck- 
oned only by the ages of the patriarchs. In Exodus 
he dated from the departure out of Egypt, as did also 
succeeding prophets, ; others, who lived in later times, 
from the building of the temple 8 ; from the commence- 
ment of the reigns of their several kings 9 ; from their 
captivities and deliverances 1 , or other important na- 
tional events 2 ; and sometimes from the reigns of foreign 
kings 3 , whom if they described by names different from 
those under which they are mentioned in profane history, 
they did so in accommodation to the titles by which 
they were known to the Jews. The difficulties which 
occur on a superficial perusal of the Scriptures chiefly 
originate in want of attention to these considerations ; 
and those who have not the leisure and industry which 
are necessary to elucidate such particulars, will do well 
to collect the obvious instruction which is richly spread 
through every page of the sacred volume, rather than 
to engage in speculations of delicate discussion, or to 
entangle themselves in objections which result from igno- 
rance. The historical, like all other parts of Scripture, 
have every mark of genuine and unaffected truth. 
Miraculous events are inseparably blended with occur- 
rences that are indisputable. Many relations are 
interwoven with accounts of other nations, yet no 
inconsistencies have been detected. A connected and 

7 Gen. xv. 13. 1 Kings vi. 1. Usser. Chron. Sac. c. 12. 

8 2 Chron. viii. 1 # 9 As the earlier prophets. 
1 Ezek. i. 2. 2 Amos i. 1. 

3 Ezra i. 1. Nehem. ii. 1. Esther i. 3. Dan. x. 1. Zechar. i. 1. 
Haggai i. 1. 



J 38 PREFACE TO THE HISTORICAL BOOKS. 

dependent chain of history, an uniform and pervading 
spirit of piety, co-operating in one design, invariably 
prevail in every page of the sacred books; and the 
historical unfold the accomplishment of the prophetic 
parts. 



OF THE 



BOOK OF JOSHUA 



It has been contended by some writers, that the Book 
which passes under the name of Joshua in all the 
copies, was not written by him ; but that this title was 
chosen rather as descriptive of the chief personage of 
the book, than with design to intimate its author : in 
the same manner as the books of Esther, of Job, or of 
Ruth, are so called, because they treat principally con- 
cerning the actions of those persons whose names they 
respectively bear. But if we wave all the arguments 
that might be drawn from the title, there will still 
remain sufficient grounds to conclude, that the book, 
or at least the greater part of it, was written by Joshua 
himself, agreeably to the general opinion. It is, in- 
deed, expressly said, towards the conclusion of the 
book, that "Joshua wrote these words in the book of 
the law of God 1 ," which seems to imply, that he 
subjoined this history to the Pentateuch. 

Joshua is represented through the whole work as 
appointed by God to govern and instruct his people. 

1 1 Kings xvi. 34. and compare with Joshua vi. 26. ch. xv. 63, 
compare with 2 Sam. v-. 6. 



140 OF THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 

He is likewise described in the book of Ecclesiasticus 2 , 
under the title of " Jesus the son of Nave," as " the 
successor of Moses in prophecies ;" there is, therefore, 
ample reason to be convinced, that Joshua was the 
author of the book, with the exception, perhaps, of a 
few verses towards the conclusion ; the account of his 
death being added by one of his successors, in like manner 
as he may have supplied what was necessary to com- 
plete the history of Moses. The ancient Talmudists, 
and the voice of general tradition, attribute the book to 
Joshua ; and it is expressly said in Bava Bathra, that 
Joshua wrote the book distinguished by his name 3 ; 
and the eight last verses of the law. It is also added, 
in the same place, that Eleazar wrote the twenty- 
ninth verse of the twenty-fourth chapter of Joshua, as 
Phineas did the thirty-third ; and probably all the five 
last verses were added by Eleazar the high-priest, his 
son Phineas, or Samuel. 

The principal objections made against the assign- 
ment of this book to Joshua are, first, that in the 
thirteenth verse of the tenth chapter, the circumstance 
of the sun and moon being stayed, is said to be written 
in the book of Jasher ; by which it is meant to in- 
sinuate that the book of Joshua is only a compendious 
history, selected from larger chronicles, in later times. 
Now to whatever book this reference may be supposed 
to apply, whether to a previous narrative, or to a song 
composed on the occasion of the great event here 
spoken of, it does not follow that Joshua might not be 



2 Ecclus. xlvi. 1. 

3 Bava Bathra, cap. i. Spanhem. Hist. Eccl. Vet. Test. Opera, 
vol. i. p. 335. edit. Lug. Bat. 1701. 



OF THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 141 

the author of a work in which the book of Jasher is 
quoted; as probably containing a more minute and 
circumstantial account of this remarkable miracle 4 . 
Secondly, those expressions which have been brought 
to prove that the history was written long after the 
events therein recorded, as that the stones which Joshua 
set up " are there unto this day 5 ," with similar pas- 
sages, which argue that the relation w r as some time 
subsequent to the occurrences described, do in reality 
only serve to show, what other circumstances confirm, 
that Joshua wrote the book towards the conclusion of 
his days ; and then, as speaking of the earlier periods 
of his government, he might consistently use this and 
similar expressions 6 . 

It has been asserted, farther, that some things are 
noticed in this book which did not happen till after the 
death of Joshua; as the expedition of the Danites 
against Leshem 7 ; which apparently is related as a 
subsequent event in the book of Judges. Hence some 
have attributed the book to Eleazar ; some to Samuel ; 
and some to Isaiah, to Ezra, or others ; but it is not 
necessary on this account to deprive Joshua of his title 

4 Joshua describes this miracle according to the received notions 
of astronomy. Vid. Calmet. Dissert, sur le Commandement, que 
Josue iit. Tome 2. p. v. edit. Paris, 1724. 

3 Chap. iv. 9. Vid. also chap. x. 27. Matth. xxvii. 8. 

6 The book must have been written by a person at least nearly 
contemporary with Joshua, since Rahab was living in the author's 
time. Vid. chap. vi. 25. and v. 1. where the author speaks of 
himself as present at the passage over Jordan. Observe also chap, 
viii. 28. xv. 63. xvi. 10. and the circumstantial detail of particulars 
which argues a contemporary writer. It was composed before the 
first book of Kings. Compare Joshua xvi. 10. with 1 Kings ix. 16. 

7 Chap. xix. 47. 



142 OF THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 

to the book ; for if the relation in Judges be not the 
history of a different expedition 8 , we may suppose the 
recital in this book to be an interpolation made by 
Ezra, or some prophet posterior to Joshua ; and this is 
the more probable solution of the difficulty, since the 
verse which records the conquests of the Danites, 
appears evidently to be such, in order to complete 
the account of the Danites' possessions. It may 
be remarked farther, that whatever is said of Oth- 
niel and Achsah, in the book of Judges, is only a 
recapitulation of what happened under Joshua 9 . The 
land of Cabul mentioned in Joshua, is by Josephus 
distinguished from that which is spoken of in the book 
of Kings * ; and " the house of God" in this book, 
does not imply the temple ; which was not built till 
long after the death of Joshua ; but means the Taber- 
nacle and Ark, which did exist in his time. These 

8 Judges xviii. 27 — 29. It is possible that the Laish mentioned 
in Judges was a different place from the Leshem spoken of in 
Joshua. The accounts, indeed, vary in some circumstances. In 
Joshua, Leshem itself is said to have been called Dan. In Judges, 
Laish is represented to have been burnt, and the city which was 
built in its room was called Dan. 

9 Chap. xv. 13. 19. and Judges i. 11 — 15. or the passage might 
be a subsequent insertion into the book of Joshua. 

1 Chap. xix. 27. and 1 Kings ix. 13. The former a city on the 
borders of Ptolemais, the latter a district containing several towns. 
Compare Josephus de Vita, vol. ii. p. 925. with Joseph. Antiq. 
vol. i. lib. viii. c. v. sect. 3. p. 353. edit. Hudson, et Huet. Demon. 
Evan. Prop. iv. 148. edit. Par. 1679. The notion that places are 
in this book sometimes distinguished by names not adopted till later 
times, is, perhaps, often fanciful, since the origin and date of names 
are extremely uncertain ; but where modern names are found, they 
might have been affixed by those who read, copied, or revised the 
book. 






OF THE BOOK OF JOSHlTA. 143 

difficulties being thus removed, we may conclude that 
Joshua was the author of the book that bears his name. 
It contains an account of the distribution of property, 
which must soon have been committed to writing. It 
was received by Ezra into the canon as inspired, and it 
is cited as Scripture by many of the sacred writers 2 , 
and especially as the work of Joshua in the first book 
of Kings, where his words are said to be the words of 
God 3 , and where the accomplishment of a prophecy 
delivered by him is related. 

Joshua, who was the son of Nun, of the tribe of 
Ephraim, was first called Oshea, or Hosea 4 , a name, 
which, as it signifies Saviour, was well adapted to his 
character, as typical of our spiritual Saviour. He is 
also by St. Luke, and by the author of Ecclesiasticus, 
styled Jesus ; a just representative of that Jesus who 
leads us into a Canaan of endless felicity, through the 
water of baptism 5 . Joshua was " filled with the spirit 
of wisdom," and took upon him the government of 
Israel by command of God 6 ; agreeably to the predic- 

2 1 Chron. ii. 7. xii. 15. Psa. cxix. 173. Isa. xxviii. 21. 
Acts vii. 45. Heb. xi. 31. xiii. 5. James ii. 25. 28. Ecclus. 
xlvi. 4. 1 Mace. ii. 5, 6. 

3 1 Kings xvi. 34. and Joshua vi. 26. 

4 VW\n Oshea a Saviour, Ptmn* Jehoshua, he shall save. Moses 
appears to have made this change in the name of Joshua, in pro- 
phetic confidence of the victories through which he should conduct 
the people to their establishment in the land of Canaan. It is first 
mentioned on his appointment to fight with Amalek. Numb. xiii. 
16. Exod. xvii. 9. Jennings' Jewish Antiq. book i. cap. i. p. 32. 
London, 1766. 

5 Acts vii. 45. Ecclus. xlvi. 1. Heb. iv. 8. Grot. Com. in 
Matt. i. 21. 

6 Numb, xxvii. 18 — 20. Deut. xxxi. 7. 14. xxxiv. 9. Joshua i. 5. 



144 OF THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 

tion of Moses, who had promised that "the Lord 
should raise up a prophet like unto him as his succes- 
sor 7 ." The piety, courage, and disinterested integrity 
of Joshua are conspicuously displayed through the 
whole course of his conduct. Independently of the 
inspiration which enlightened his mind and writings, 
he derived divine information sometimes by immediate 
revelation from God 8 ; and sometimes from the sanc- 
tuary, and by the mouth of Eleazar the high-priest, the 
son of Aaron, who having on the breast-plate, and 
presenting himself before the veil over against the 
mercy-seat whereon rested the Divine presence 9 , con- 
sulted God by the Urim and Thummim ; and God 
answered him by a voice which issued from the mercy- 
seat. During the life of this excellent chief, the 
Israelites were preserved in some obedience to God, 
and flourished under his protection ; and we contem- 

7 Deut. xviii. 15. This prophecy is emphatically and in a more 
especial sense applicable to Christ, the archetype of the pro- 
phets. 

8 Chap. iii. 7- v. 13 — 15. It is generally supposed, in con- 
formity with the sentiments of the ancient Hebrew and Christian 
churches, that the person who, in the instance last referred to, is 
related to have appeared to Joshua, was God himself, as he is after- 
wards called the Lord (Jehovah in the Hebrew), ch. vi. 2. and 
Joshua would not have been suffered to worship, much less required 
to reverence a created being. Vid. Rev. xxii. 8, 9. It was pro- 
bably the divine \6yoQ, the angel of the covenant, who appeared. 
Euseb. His. lib. i. c. 2. p. 5. edit. Paris, 1628. 

9 The Schechinah was a visible symbol of the Divine presence, 
which, after having conducted the Israelites through the wilderness, 
rested in a glorious cloud between the Cherubims in the tabernacle, 
and afterwards in the temple ; and hence the divine oracles were 
delivered. Vide Lowman's Rationale of the Hebrew Ritual, part ii. 
ch. ii. 



OF THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 145 

plate with satisfaction, the description of a well-governed 
arid successful people. 

Joshua, the leader, as well as the historian of the 
Israelites, represents in lively colours the progress of 
a nation led on to rapid and great victories by the 
guidance of the Lord ; yet occasionally checked in 
their career, that they might be convinced of their 
dependence on God for success, and that it was not 
" their own arm" which had procured it. He relates, 
with all the animation of one who was appointed to be 
an agent in the scenes displayed, the successive miracles 
that favoured and effected the conquest of the country ; 
and unfolds the exact accomplishment of the prophe- 
cies delivered by Jacob and Moses concerning the 
possession and division of the promised land 1 . The 
line of conduct which he observed, was such as could 
not have been pursued but in the confidence of Divine 
aid : as, for instance, on his entrance into the country, 
which he designed to conquer, he circumcised his peo- 
ple. It is said, indeed, that the Canaanites were 
" dismayed." This dismay is represented by the sacred 
historian, as the effect of a preceding miracle, which 
bears testimony to the reality of the Divine assistance. 
The punishments inflicted on the idolatrous nations of 
Canaan, even to excision, may be regarded as judicial, 
and they do not impeach the Divine justice, any more 
than do the exterminating accidents, or convulsions in 
the natural world, such as fires, hurricanes, earthquakes, 
and other calamities. 

In the course of the narrative, Joshua points out the 
attention paid to the Divine precepts in the circumcision 

1 Gen. xii. 7. xvii. 8. xlix. Exod. xv. 14 — 17. xxiii. 23. 
xxxiii. 2. Numb, xxxiv. 2. Deut. i. 7, 8. xxxii. 49. 

L 



146 OF THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 

of the people 2 ; in the setting up of the Tabernacle ; 
and in the appointment of the cities of refuge. The 
book concludes with the account of the renewal of the 
covenant ; and of the affecting exhortation and death 
of Joshua, which terminates an interesting history of 
about thirty years, from a.m. 2553 to a.m. 2589 3 ; the 
whole of which is animated by the display of God's 
attributes, and recommended by the noblest sentiments 
of piety. It is occasionally interspersed with prophe- 
cies 4 , and distinguished throughout by every mark of 

2 The command given to Joshua to circumcise again the children 
of Israel, was only to renew a rite which had been omitted in the 
wilderness. " The reproach of Egypt," which was thereby " rolled 
away," meant possibly the opprobrium incurred by the Egyptians, 
who might have neglected the rite originally derived from Abraham, 
or used among themselves for physical causes, in compliance with 
the requisitions of the uncircumcised Horites that over-ran Egypt, 
or who, perhaps, might not yet have adopted it, If we understand 
that the Egyptians upbraided the Israelites for the neglect of cir- 
cumcision, it will by no means follow, that the latter nation learnt 
it from the former ; but rather that the Egyptians made it a subject 
of reproach to the Israelites, that they neglected in the wilderness 
what they professed to consider as a rite of distinction, and the seal 
of the promises. Vid. Shuckford's Conn. vol. iii. b. xii. and Patrick 
in Joshua, ch. v. 6 — 9. Spencer conceives, that the " reproach of 
Egypt" was the disgrace of the servitude to which they had been 
subjected, and from which they were now rescued and declared heirs 
of the privileges of the promised land, by this token of a free people. 
Vide Spencer de Leg. Heb. lib. i. c. v. sect. 2. edit. Cantab. 

3 Including the account of Eleazar's death, who outlived Joshua 
about five or six years. This computation is likewise grounded on 
a supposition that Joshua was employed seven years in completing 
the conquest of the country, and that he survived it about eighteen 
years. Some do not admit that he governed the people so long. 
Vid. Joseph. Antiq. lib. v. c. i. 

4 Chap. iii. 10 — 17. see also vi. 26. compared with 1 Kings 
xvi. 34. Josh. xvii. 18. xxiii. 13 — 16. 



OF THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 147 

fidelity and truth. Joshua, like his predecessor, de- 
scribes the disobedience and transgressions of the 
Jews, not concealing his own errors. He conspires in 
the same zealous designs with Moses, and earnestly 
recommends an attention to the laws and statutes 
which that legislator had delivered. The book must 
have been a most valuable possession to the Israelites, 
as it contained the earliest and most authentic docu- 
ments relative to the property of every tribe, and 
afforded to each the title of its respective inheritance. 

It is necessary to remark, that there is some acci- 
dental derangement in the order of the chapters of this 
book, occasioned possibly by the mode of rolling up 
manuscripts anciently observed. If chronologically 
placed, they should be read thus : first chapter to the 
tenth verse ; then second chapter ; then from the tenth 
verse to the end of the first chapter ; afterwards should 
follow the sixth and consecutive chapters to the 
eleventh ; then the twenty-second chapter ; and, lastly, 
the twelfth and thirteenth chapters, to the twenty- 
fourth verse of the latter 5 . 

Joshua succeeded Moses in the government of Israel, 
about a.m. 2553; and died in the 110th year of his 
age, a.m. 2578, at Timnah-serah ; where he had retired, 
contemplating from Mount Ephraim, the well-ordered 
and peaceful government which he had established 6 ; 

s Bedford's Scrip. Chron. book v. p. 590. edit. 1741. 

6 The Vatican copy of the Septuagint version has the following 
addition annexed to the account of Joshua's burial, in the thirtieth 
verse of the last chapter : " There they put with him into the 
sepulchre in which they buried him, the knives of flint with which 
he circumcised the kingdom of Israel in Gilgal, when he brought 

L 2 



148 OF THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 

and exhorting the people with his last words to a 
remembrance of God's mercy, and to an observance of 
his laws. 

The memory of Joshua, and of his victories, was long 
preserved, and his reputation spread among the heathen 
nations 7 . He is generally considered as the original of 
the Phoenician Hercules ; and the scene of his vic- 
tories, as well as the extent of the conquests them- 
selves, is still discernible in the disfigured accounts 
which are given concerning that fictitious hero 8 . It 
has been collected from monuments still extant, that 
the Carthaginians were a colony of the Tyrians who 
fled from the exterminating sword of Joshua 9 ; as also, 
that the inhabitants of Leptis in Africa, were primarily 
derived from Zidonians, who had been compelled to 
forsake their country in consequence of calamities 
brought upon it by the conquests of this great com- 
mander. 

them out of Egypt, as the Lord commanded them ; and they are 
there unto this day." The Alexandrian copy has it not. Vide 
Harmer, Observations on Scripture, vol. iv. p. 398. 

7 Some traces of the miracles of the sun and moon being stayed 
for a whole day by Joshua, are discovered in the Chinese records, in 
Herodotus, Callimachus, Statius and Ovid. Vid. Martinii Hist. 
Sinic. lib. i. p. 37. edit. Amstel. 1659. Herod, lib. ii. c. 142. 
p. 173. Callim. Hymn, in Dian. lib. 181-2. Statius, Thebais, 
lib. iv. 1. 307. Compare also Keppel's Personal Narrative, &c. 
vol. i. c. 9. p. 186-7. with 2 Chron. xxxii- 31. 

8 Procopius, Historia de Bello Vandalico, c. x. p. 400. edit. 
Venetiis inter Byzantin. Hist. Scriptor. Bochart. Geog. Sacr. 2d 
part, lib. i. c. 34. p. 662. Sallust. Bellum Jugurth. p. 210. edit. 
Amstelodam. 1689. The Mahometans relate many fabulous stories 
of Joshua. Vid. D'Herbelot. Bib. Oriental, sub voce Jeschova. 

9 AUix's Reflect, on Books of Old Test. 



OF THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 149 

The Samaritans are by some writers supposed to have 
received the Book of Joshua ; there is still extant a 
Samaritan book entitled the Book of Joshua, which 
differs considerably from the Hebrew copy, containing 
a chronicle of events badly compiled, from the death 
of Moses to the time of the emperor Adrian. It con- 
sists of forty-seven chapters swelled with fabulous ac- 
counts. It is written in Arabic in the Samaritan 
character 1 . After having been long lost, it was dis- 
covered by Scaliger, and deposited at Leyden, in 
manuscript, and has never been published. 

The Jews suppose Joshua to have been the author 
of a prayer which they repeat in part on quitting the 
synagogue. It is in celebration of God's goodness for 
having granted them an inheritance superior to that of 
the rest of mankind 2 . 

1 Fabricius, Codex Pseudograph. Vet. Test. p. 876. Edit. Ham- 
burgh et Lips. 1713, and p. 130. Edit. Hamburgh, 1723. 

2 Wagenseilii Tela Ignea Satanae ; ed. Altdorf. 1681. p. 223, et 
seq. 



OF THE 



BOOK OF JUDGES. 



This Book has been generally attributed to Samuel, in 
agreement with the opinion of the Talmudical doctors ] . 
Some writers have assigned it to Phinehas ; some to 
Hezekiah; and some to Ezekiel; others have sup- 
posed that Ezra collected it from such memoirs as 

1 Bava Bathra, c. i. Kimchi Abarb. Isid. lib. vi. c. ii. The Tal- 
mud, from rno^n, doctrine, is a Jewish book, containing explanatory 
remarks on the law, and reverenced by the Jews, as much as, or 
more than the law, as the great source of their religious opinions. It 
consists of two parts : the Mischna, or text ; and the Gemara or 
complement. The former the Jews profess to have received as an 
oral law, delivered to Moses by God ; but in reality it consists of 
traditions accumulated from the time of Simon, or Ezra, and con- 
tains some useful instructions. The Gemara is a commentary of 
wild fancies on the Mischna. There are two Talmuds, that of Jeru- 
salem and that of Babylon : the last of which is most esteemed. It 
appeared in the sixth or seventh century, about 200 years after the 
former. Maimonides published a good commentary on it. Vid. 
Buxtorf. Recensio. oper. Talmud. Porta Mosis, in Pocock's Works, 
vol. i. Morin. Exercit. Biblic. Lexic. Buxtorf. Biblioth. Rabbin. 
Prideaux, Con. pt. i. book v. p. 258. Mark vii. 7, 8. 13. The popes, 
where they have had influence, have often procured the destruction 
of the Talmuds, as containing pernicious opinions. Much truth, 
however, is concealed under the chimerical expositions and accounts 
therein contained. 



OF THE BOOK OF JUDGES. 151 

every judge respectively furnished of bis own govern- 
ment. It seems, however, most probable that Samuel 
was the author ; who, being a prophet or seer, and de- 
scribed in the Book of Chronicles as an historian, may 
reasonably be supposed (inasmuch as he was the last of 
the Judges) to have written this part of the Jewish 
history ; since the inspired writers alone were permitted 
to describe those relations, in which were interwoven 
the instructions and judgments of the Lord 2 . 

The book appears to have been written after the 
establishment of the regal government, since the au- 
thor, in speaking of preceding events, observes, that 
" in those days there was no king in Israel 3 ;" which 
seems to imply that there were kings when he wrote. 
There is also some reason to think that it was written 
before the accession of David, since it is said in the 
twenty-first verse of the first chapter, that " the Jebu- 
sites were still in Jerusalem," who were dispossessed of 
that city early in the reign of David 4 . It was likewise 
written before the Books of Samuel 5 ; and, therefore, 
if the author be understood, as is usually supposed, to 
speak in the thirtieth verse of the eighteenth chapter, 
of that captivity 6 which happened in the time of Eli, 

2 Joseph, cont. Apion. lib. i. § 7. p. 1333. 

3 Chap. xix. 1. xxi. 25. see also vi. 24. x. 4. xv. 19. xvii. 6. 
xviii. 30. 

4 2 Sam. v. 6—8. 

5 Compare 2 Sam. xi. 21. with Judges ix. 53. 

6 The captivity here spoken of must have happened before the 
reign of David, who would not have suffered the idolatrous images 
to remain among his people. When the ark was captured, many of 
the Israelites must have been taken likewise ; and the Psalmist ex- 
pressly calls this taking of the ark " a captivity." Vid. Psal. Ixxviii. 
60 — 62. as the wife of Phinehas lamented that then " the glory was 
departed from Israel." Vid. 1 Sam. iv. 22. 



152 OF THE BOOK OF JUDGES. 

when the ark was captured by the Philistines, and the 
idol of Milcah was destroyed 7 ; there is no objection 
to the general opinion, which attributes the book to 
Samuel 8 ; who may be conceived to have written it in 
Ramoth Gilead, after the election of Saul. Events in 
this book are referred to and confirmed in the First 
Book of Samuel 9 . 

The Book is properly inserted between those of 
Joshua and Samuel, as the Judges were governors in- 
termediate between Joshua and the Kings of Israel. 
They were illustrious princes of the house of Judah *, 
raised up by God, not in regular succession, but as 
emergencies required, when the repentance of the 
Israelites induced Him to compassionate their distress, 
and to afford them deliverance from their difficulties. 
They frequently acted by a Divine suggestion, and were 
occasionally endowed with preternatural strength and 
fortitude 2 . 



7 1 Sam. iv. 11. and ch. v. Selden de Diis Syris, cap. ii. p. 280- 
2. Opera, torn. 2. Edit. London, 1726; and Calmet on Judges, 
ch. xviii. 30. 

8 The word JV1J, Nabia, which is used in this book, might well 
be employed by Samuel, who wrote the first part at least of the 
First Book of Samuel. Vid. 1 Sam. ix. 9. The house of God 
means the Tabernacle, as in Joshua. 

9 1 Sam. xii. 9, 10, 11. compare with Judges iv. 2. xiii. 1. iii. 12. 
ii. 11, 12, 13. vi. 11. vii. 1. xi. 6. 

1 They were called D'tosittf, in the Hebrew, which signifies Judges. 
They had the supreme power under some restrictions ; and without 
the ensigns of royalty, being ministers of God, subservient to the 
theocracy. Vid. ch. viii. 23. Some reckon fifteen and some sixteen 
judges. They were sometimes elected by the people, on the per- 
formance of great exploits, and generally continued for life. 

2 Chap. ii. 18. vi. 14. 34. xi. 29. xiv. 6. 19. The Jews imagine, 



OF THE BOOK OF JUDGES. 153 

After the death of Joshua, the nation appears for a 
short time to have had no regularly appointed gover- 
nor 3 , but to have acted in separate tribes. They were 
for a few years retained in the service of God, by the 
elders who survived Joshua, but afterwards fell into a 
state of anarchy, for a period of which we have no ac- 
count, but as to those particulars scattered towards the 
beginning and conclusion of this book. We find, how- 
ever, that the people proceeded to the conquest of the 
remaining part of the country, but that, gradually for- 
getting the instructions of Moses, and of Joshua, and 
notwithstanding a rebuke which they received from an 
angel of God 4 , they suffered the inhabitants to remain 
tributary among them ; who became, as had been re- 
peatedly predicted, " scourges in their sides, and thorns 
in their eyes," and as it were, " snares and traps " to 
seduce them to idolatry 5 . For this they were punished 

without sufficient reason, that they were endued with the spirit of 
prophecy. Vid. Maimon. More Nevoch. pt. ii. c. xlv. p. 316. 
Edit. Buxtorf. 1629. Grotius in Jud. i. 1. 

3 In the Samaritan chronicle, it is said that Joshua appointed his 
nephew Abel to succeed him, upon whom the government fell by 
lot ; but this is a fabulous account. Vid. Saurin. Dissert, sur Eglon, 
Roi des Moabites. Hotting. Smegma Orientale ; ed. Heidelb. 1658. 
p. 522. 

4 Chap. ii. 1. by the word 1«Vd, ayy e\og, nuntius, some under- 
stand a prophet, which it sometimes signifies, as in Haggai i. 13. 
But there is no reason why we should not suppose the messenger to 
have been an angel, as angels undoubtedly appeared on other occa- 
sions, the ministers of God's miraculous government of the Israelites. 

5 Exod. xxiii. 33. xxxiv. 12. Josh, xxiii. 13. Judg. ii. 3. 
The Israelites were permitted to render tributary those nations who 
submitted to them, though they were to suppress their idolatrous 
worship, " to break down their images, and to destroy their groves." 
But those nations who, in defiance of God's declared favour, opposed 

3 



154 OF THE BOOK OF JUDGES. 

and deprived of the Divine aid, so as to excite the com- 
plaints of their leaders 6 , and given up to their enemies, 
being holden eight years in servitude to Cushan, king 
of Mesopotamia, till God raised up Judges to deliver 
them. Othniel appears to have been the first judge ; 
though some writers say that Simeon, and others that 
Caleb 7 preceded him in the government of the people. 
During the intervals between the Judges, each tribe 
was governed by its respective elders; affairs of im- 
portance being referred to the great council, or San- 
hedrim 8 . 

them, were to be destroyed; and as to the seven nations of Canaan, 
of those who resisted, " nothing that breathed was to be saved 
alive ;" that every trace of idolatry might be swept away. Vid. 
Deut. xx. 10 — 18. vii. 1 — 6. 1 Sam. xv. 5. Though this destruc- 
tion was enjoined only in case of resistance, yet with no idolatrous 
city whatever, were the Israelites allowed by the Divine command, 
to make any league or covenant ; for in these the authority of those 
deities, whose sanction must have been abjured, would have been 
admitted, and some toleration given to a worship that might have 
tended to the seduction of the Israelites. Vid. Exod, xxiii. 32. 
They were, therefore, enjoined, gradually, to extirpate the civil and 
religious communities of the land, and to render the people tributary 
and dependent as individuals. All these instructions, however, the 
people violated, and suffered for their disobedience. Vid. Shuck- 
ford's Sacred and Profane History of the World, vol. iii. book xii. 
London, 1737. 

6 Chap. vi. 13. 

7 Bedford's Script. Chron. lib. v. c. iii. p. 506-7. Edit. London, 
1730. 

8 The great council appointed by Moses continued, probably, till 
the establishment of the monarchical government. Whether the 
Sanhedrim were the same council continued, or a subsequent insti- 
tution in the time of the Maccabees, is uncertain. Like that, how- 
ever, it consisted of seventy or seventy-two elders : mostly Priests 
and Levites, over which the high-priest generally, but not necessa- 



OF THE BOOK OF JUDGES. 155 

The history of this book may be divided into two 
parts; the first containing an account of the judges 
from Othniel to Samson, ending at the sixteenth chap- 
ter. The second part describing several remarkable 
particulars that occurred not long after the death of 
Joshua, which are placed towards the end of the book 
in the seventeenth and following chapters, that they 
may not interrupt the course of the history. What 
relates to the two last Judges, Eli and Samuel, is re- 
corded in the following book. The chronology of this 
period is entangled with many difficulties ; but if we 
include the period of thirty-four years, which may be 
supposed to have intervened between the death of 
Joshua and the judicature of Othniel, the book ex- 
tends its history from a. m. 2578, to the death of 
Samson, a.m. 2887, and the government of the Judges 
may be conceived to have continued from a.m. 2612, 
to the twenty-first year of Samuel's judicature, when 
Saul was anointed, a.m. 2929, that is, about 317 
years 9 . 

rily, presided. It decided on momentous affairs, civil and religious, 
and subsisted to the time of Christ, but with authority diminished 
in subjection to the Roman power. Matt. v. 21. Mark xiii. 9. 
Selden de Synedriis, Opera, vol. i. p. 766. Edit. 1726. Beausobre's 
Introduct. to Script. There were several inferior and dependent 
Sanhedrims. The word is derived from (rvridpiov, a council or 
assembly. Numb. xi. 16. Herman Conragii de republica Ebraeor. 
sect. 23. p. 256. apud Fascicul. Opuscul. quae ad Histor. ac Philo- 
log. Sacr. spectant. Roterodam. 1693. torn. 2. 

9 St. Paul appears to reckon 450 years from the division of the 
land till the time of Samuel, (exclusive of Samuel's government, 
which is reckoned under the forty years assigned in the next verse 
to Saul) but as this computation would be inconsistent with other 
statements in Scripture, and especially with that in 1 Kings vi. 1. 
where the fourth year of Solomon's reign is made to coincide with 



156 OF THE BOOK OF JUDGES. 

The periods stated in the book, if computed in suc- 
cession, would swell to a much greater number of 
years ; but they must be conceived sometimes to coin- 
cide as contemporary, being reckoned from different 
seras, which cannot now be exactly ascertained ; and, 
perhaps, as Marsham has conjectured, some of the 
judges were coeval, reigning over different districts. 

The Book of Judges presents to us a lively descrip- 
tion of a fluctuating and unsettled nation ; a striking 
picture of the disorders and dangers which prevailed in 
a republic without magistracy, when " the highways 
were unoccupied, and the travellers walked through 
by-ways V' when few prophets were appointed to con- 
trol the people 2 , and " every one did that which was 
right in his own eyes 3 ." It exhibits the contest of 

the 480th year after the deliverance from Egypt, Usher accepts from 
ancient manuscripts a different reading of Acts xiii. 20 ; according to 
which the 450 years are referred, not to the duration of the Judges, 
but to the period which intervened between the promise of Canaan 
made to Abraham, and the division of the land. The present read- 
ing, however, is more agreeable to the scope of St. Paul's discourse, 
as well as best supported by authority ; and, therefore, various other 
solutions of the difficulties that result from this account have been 
proposed. Many chronologers have imagined that rerpaKoalotc is a 
mistake of the copyist of the Acts, for rptawoaioLQ ; in which case St. 
Paul, speaking loosely (we), might well reckon 350 years ; for if we de- 
duct from 480 years the forty-seven years which intervened between 
the Exodus and the division of the land, together with the eighty-four 
years which must be assigned to Samuel, Saul, David, and Solomon, 
before the foundation of the temple, we shall have exactly 349 years. 
Vid. Usher, Chron. Sac. c. xii. Poli Synop. in 1 Kings vi. 1. 

1 Chap. v. 6. 

2 We read but of two prophets in this book. Vid. chap. iv. 4. 
and vi. 8. The high-priest, however, had the power of consulting 
God by means of the Urim and Thummim. 

3 Chap. xvii. 6. 



OF THE BOOK OF JUDGES. 157 

true religion with superstition ; displays the beneficial 
effects that flow from the former ; and represents the 
miseries and evil consequences of impiety. From the 
scenes of civil discord and violence which darken this 
his history, the inspired author of the Epistle to the 
Hebrews has drawn forth some illustrious examples of 
faith in the characters of Gideon, Barak, Samson, and 
Jephthah 4 . 

Amidst the great vicissitudes of events described, in 
which the justice and mercies of God are conspicuously 
shown, we are much struck with the account of the 
memorable exploits of the judges ; of Sisera's defeat 
and death ; of the victory of Gideon ; of the punish- 
ment of Abimelech ; of Jephthah's inconsiderate vow 5 ; 

* Heb. xi. 32. 

5 It has been a subject of endless controversy, whether Jephthah 
did really offer up his daughter a " burnt-offering to the Lord," or 
only devote her to perpetual virginity, which might be considered as 
a sacrifice, when every woman looked forward to the production of 
the promised seed. The Jews and primitive Church believed that 
he did actually immolate her. In favour of this opinion, it has been 
observed, that it is supported by the construction of the Septuagint, 
Syriac, and Vulgate versions, and by the Chaldee paraphrase ; that 
if the vow extended not to the life, Jephthah might have " gone 
back ;" Levit. xxvii. 2 — 8. that a devotion to celibacy was uncus- 
tomary among the Jews, and must have been dishonourable ; that it 
could not have been requisite in a dedication to God's service, nor 
a sufficient subject for that general lamentation which prevailed on 
the occasion, and was continued with superstitious observance till 
later times ; and, lastly, that if Jephthah esteemed himself bound 
to give up every consideration, rather than violate a solemn engage- 
ment with God, he might, for his intention or general character, be 
commended by St. Paul, however censurable and extravagant his 
promise, and the performance of it might have been. See Heb. xi. 
Psal. xv. 4. Joseph. Antiq. lib. v. c. 7. § 10. p. 210. Chrysost. 
Horn. 14. ad Popul. Antiochen. p. 144. torn. 2. Edit. Paris, 1718. 



158 OF THE BOOK OF JUDGES. 

of the actions of Samson ; of the flagitious conduct of 
the Benjamites, of the destruction of Gibeah ; with the 
description of many other particulars that enliven the 
narrative, which is likewise much embellished by the 
beautiful song of Deborah and Barak, and the signifi- 
cant parable of Jotham. Many of the sacred writers, 
as well as St. Paul, allude to, or quote from, the book 6 ; 
and several relations contained in it point out the origin 
of numberless heathen fables 7 . The whole period is 
distinguished by a display of extraordinary events, and 
by the most glaring and miraculous proofs of Divine 
interposition. Prosperity and afflictions are distributed 
with regard to the conduct of individuals. The history 
of God's government must necessarily be characterized 
by the marks and demonstrations of his immediate 
agency, and the selected instruments of his will may 

Epiphanius, adv. Haeres. Opera, vol. i. lib. iii. torn. ii. p. 1055. 
Edit. Paris, 1622. and Dodwell. In support of the contrary opi- 
nion, it has been contended that nun 1 ?, which is translated in ch. 
xi. ver. 40. to lament, imports also to hold converse with, or to offer 
gifts. Vide R. Kimchi, Liber Radicum. Dr. Randolph proposes, 
by a new reading of the text, to maintain that Jephthah vowed to 
dedicate whatsoever or whomsoever came out of the door of his 
house, to meet him ; and also, to offer a burnt offering. See his 
Discourse, and on Levit. xxvii. 28, 29. Concerning the Cherem, 
see Selden de Jure Naturali et Gentium, lib. iv. c. 8. p. 477. and c. 
11. p. 492. vol. 1. Edit. London, 1726, &c. 

9 1 Sam. xii. 9— 11. 2 Sam. xi. 12. Psal. lxxviii. 61. Isaiah 
ix. 4. x. 26. and perhaps Matt. ii. 23. compare with Jud. xiii. 5. 

7 The story of Nisus's hair ; of the golden hair given by Neptune 
to his grandson Pterelaus, which rendered him invincible while 
uncut ; that of Hercules and Omphale ; of the pillars of Hercules ; 
of the death of Cleomedes Astypolaeus ; of Agamemnon and Iphige- 
nia ; appear to have been ingenious fictions fabricated on the foun- 
dation of the accounts in this book. 



OF THE BOOK OF JUDGES. 159 

well be expected to exhibit a succession of unprece- 
dented exploits. 

It should be observed, indeed, that some of the 
actions, which in this book are represented to have been 
subservient to God's designs, were justifiable only on 
the supposition of Divine warrant, which superseded all 
general rules of conduct 8 . Without this, the deeds of 
Ehud 9 and of Jael 1 might be pronounced censurable 
for their treachery, however prompted by commendable 
motives. And with respect to some other particulars, 
it is obvious, that the sacred author by no means vindi- 
cates all that he relates ; and that the indiscriminate 
massacre of the people of Jabesh-Gilead, and the rape 
of the virgins at Shiloh, were certainly stamped with 
the marks of injustice and cruelty ; and must be con- 
demned on those principles which the Scriptures have 
elsewhere consecrated, though in the brevity of the 
sacred history they are here recorded without comment. 
The characters, likewise, of God's appointed ministers, 
however spoken of in this book, and in other parts of 

8 God certainly may authorise what without his sanction would 
be questionable or unjust ; as where he commands the Israelites 
11 to spoil the Egyptians," and to extirpate the nations of Canaan. 
Vide Exod. iii. 22. Deut. xx. 10—18. 

9 We are not to conceive, because God " raised up the Judges," 
that he directed them in all their actions. The relation, however, 
seems to intimate, that Ehud on this occasion acted by Divine 
authority. 

1 Jael's conduct, like that of Rahab, as described in the book of 
Joshua, appears to have arisen from a desire of assisting in God's 
declared designs in favour of his chosen people. As the exploit is 
approved in the hymn of Deborah, an inspired prophetess, we may 
suppose it to have been performed in compliance with a Divine 
impulse, otherwise it could not have been a subject of praise. Some, 
however, have thought, that Deborah only foretels Jael's secular 
happiness and future celebrity. 



160 OF THE BOOK OF JUDGES. 

Scripture, as commendable for their general excellence, 
or particular merits, are presented to us in some points 
of view, as highly defective and blameable. It is easy, 
however, to discriminate the shades from the light, and 
to perceive, that in the description of such mixed 
characters as that of Samson, much is detailed as 
reprehensible ; and while we are led to admire his 
heroic patriotism, we are taught also to condemn his 
criminal infatuation and blind confidence in Delilah. 

With respect to those objections, which an ill-judging 
levity has suggested against the credibility of some 
transactions recorded in the book, they proceed either 
from want of attention to those constructions which 
the researches of the learned have enabled them to 
make 2 ; or from a disregard to the character of the 
times described, when a boundless enthusiasm resulted 
from a confidence in the Divine favour. 

2 The relation, for instance, of Samson's setting fire to the corn 
of the Philistines, cannot reasonably be questioned by those who 
consider the character of Samson ; and the great abundance of foxes 
(or jackals) that prevailed in Judea, which, indeed, was so remark- 
able, that many cities, and even provinces, were denominated after 
the word which we translate foxes. Vid. 1 Sam. xiii. 17. Josh, 
xv. 28. xix. 42. Judg. i. 35, also Cantic. ii. 15. Joseph. Antiq. 
lib. v. c. viii. § 7. p. 214. Some writers think that instead of 
schualim, foxes, we should read schoalim, sheaves, and translate 
zanab, the extreme end, instead of the tail. Vide Bernard Repub. 
des Lettres, p. 407. Stackhouse's Hist, of Bib. book v. vol. i. 
The Vulpinaria, or feast of the foxes, observed among the Romans, 
might have derived its origin from this transaction, some of the 
particulars of which Ovid describes in a fabulous account. Vid. 
Fast. lib. iv. 1. 684 et seq. Bochart. Hierozoicon, lib. iii. c. xiii. 
Pars prior, p. 847. editio Lond. 1663. The extraordinary strength 
of Samson is not to be considered as the physical effect of his hair, 
though God judged proper to render the continuance of the former 
dependent on the preservation of the latter, which was the mark of 
his consecration to God as a Nazarite. 



OF THE 



BOOK OF RUTH, 



The Book of Ruth is a kind of supplement or appendix 
to the Book of Judges, and may be considered as an 
introduction to the history of David l , related in the 
Books of Samuel. In the Hebrew canon it composed 
but one book with the former; and though various 
opinions have been entertained respecting its date 2 , it 
is properly placed in our Bibles between the books of 
Judges, and Samuel 3 . The famine which occasioned 
Elimelech to leave his country, is said to have come to 
pass " in the days when the Judges ruled ;" hence some 
have assigned the beginning of the history to the time 
of Gideon, who was raised up in defence of Israel, 
about a.m. 2759 4 , and under whom a famine is related 
to have happened 5 ; notwithstanding which some Jewish 

1 Euseb. Ecclesiast. Histor. lib. vi. c. xxv. p. 225. edit. Paris, 
1659. Hieron. Prol. Gal. Aug. de Doct. Christ, lib. ii. c. viii. torn, 
iii. edit. Paris, 1689. 

2 Houbigant Bib. Pref. to vol. ii. 

3 The modern Jews place Canticles, Ruth, Lamentations, Eccle- 
siastes, and Esther, immediately after the Pentateuch, giving Ruth 
sometimes the first, and sometimes the fifth place. 

4 Patrick, in chap. i. 1. 

5 Judges vi. 3—6. 

M 



162 OF THE BOOK OF RUTH. 

writers suppose the history to have occurred much 
earlier, in the time of Ehud 6 . 

The chief difficulty which exists in settling the 
chronology of this period, arises from a genealogical 
account of St. Matthew 7 , in which it is stated that 
Boaz, who was the husband of Ruth, and the great 
grandfather of David 8 , was the son of Salmon by 
Rachab ; for if by Rachab we suppose to be meant, as 
is usually understood, Rahab 9 , the harlot, who protected 
Joshua's spies about a.m. 2552, it is difficult to conceive 
that only three persons, Boaz, Obed, and Jesse, should 
have intervened between her and David, who was not 
born till about 2919. We must, however, in this case 
conclude, either with the learned Usher, that the 
ancestors of David, as eminent for righteousness, or as 



6 Seder Olam. cap. xii. 

7 Matt. i. 5, 6. 8 Ruth iv. 21, 22. and Matt. i. 5, 6. 

9 We cannot now discover any motive which should have induced 
St. Matthew to mention Rachab in the genealogy of Christ, unless 
she were some person previously spoken of in Scripture ; but many 
reasons may be assigned why she should be introduced in the 
lineage, if she were the Rahab whose conduct is mentioned by 
Joshua, (and who, though styled nJIT zonah, in the Hebrew, and 
7r6ppr], by the Evangelists, is celebrated as an example of faith), 
still, however, it may be diffidently suggested, that the chronological 
discrepancies would be less considerable, if we could suppose her to 
have been a different person ; and that the 400 years which inter- 
vened between the birth of Pharez, and the time of Shamgar, were 
filled up by Boaz and his six immediate ancestors. As a slight 
support to which, it may be remarked, that the wife of Salmon is 
spelt Pa^a/3 by St. Matthew, whereas in Hebrews xi. 31. and in 
James ii. 25. the harlot's name is written Paa/3, as in the Septuagint 
version of Joshua ii. 1. There is not any mention in the Book of 
Joshua, or in any part of the Old Testament, of Rahab's marriage 
with Salmon. 






OF THE BOOK OF RUTH. 163 

designed to be conspicuous, because in the lineage of 
the Messiah, were blessed with extraordinary length of 
life l ; or else that the sacred writers mentioned in the 
genealogy only such names as were distinguished and 
known among the Jews. If, however, Boaz be con- 
sidered as the grandfather of David, the history cannot 
be well assigned to the time of Eli 2 , under whose 
priesthood it is stated to have happened by Josephus 3 , 
but it should be understood to have come to pass at 
some earlier period ; not so far back as Shamgar, where 
Usher has placed it in the 2658th year of the world, 
about 133- after the conquest of Canaan, but probably 
about the year 2754 4 . 

The book has been by some considered as the pro- 
duction of Hezekiah ; by others it has been attributed 
to Ezra ; but it was in all probability written by 
Samuel, agreeably to the opinion of many Jews and 
Christians 5 ; and the prophet may be supposed by this 
addition to the book of Judges, to have brought down 
the history to the time of his own birth. It certainly 
was composed not only after the Judges had ceased to 

1 Usser. Chron. Sac. cap. xii. Poli Synop. in Ruth. And in 
Matt. i. 5. Patrick, Whitby, &c. 

2 The famine which occasioned Naomi to reside ten years in 
Moab, could not have come to pass so late as in the days of Eli, 
from the tenth year of whose judicature to the birth of David were 
only forty years ; Vid. Ruth i. 4. Acts xiii. 21. 2 Sam. v. 4. for 
we cannot suppose so short a space of time only as thirty-nine or 
forty years to have intervened between the birth of Obed and that 
of his grandson David, who was the youngest of eight sons of Jesse. 
Vid. 1 Sam. xvi. 10, 11. 

3 Joseph. Antiq. lib. v. c 9. vol. i. p. 217. 

1 Chron. Sac. par. i, c. xii. Du Pin. Lightfoot, &c. 

5 Talmud, Schalsch. Brentius, Huet, Drusius, Patrick, &c, 

m2 



164 OF THE BOOK OF RUTH. 

rule, but after the birth, if not after the anointing of 
David 6 ; whose descent from Judah the sacred writer 
seems to have designed to certify, as according to the 
prophecy of Jacob, the Messiah was to spring from 
that tribe 7 ; and with this view he traces back the 
lineage of Boaz to Pharez, the son of Judah 8 ; and 
grandson of Jacob 9 . 

It contains an account of the conversion of Ruth, a 
Moabitess, and according to Jewish tradition, of the 
royal race of Moab, which nation was descended from 
Lot \ and settled near the land of Judah, at the end of 
the Dead Sea, or Lake of Asphaltites. Ruth having 
married Mahlon, the son of Elimelech, who had so- 
journed in Moab, on account of a famine which pre- 
vailed in Judea, resolved, on the death of Mahlon, to 
accompany her mother-in-law in the return to her 
country. As Mahlon was of the house of Judah, Ruth 
relied probably on the promises made to that tribe, 
and had certainly become a proselyte to the Hebrew 
religion 2 . After their arrival at Bethlehem, the former 
residence of Naomi, Ruth was compelled, by her dis- 
tress, to claim kindred with Boaz, who, as the law of 
Moses directed 3 , took her to wife, and begat a son, 
from whom David descended. 

6 Chap. i. 1. iv. 22. It is probable that David was not pointed 
out as an object of attention to the sacred historians till he was 
selected for the throne. 

7 Gen xlix. 10. 8 Gen. xxxviii. 29. 
9 Gen. xxix. 35. 1 Gen. xix. 37. 

2 Chap. i. 16. Buxtorf. Dissertat. de Sponsalibus et Divortiis, p. 41. 
edit. Basiliae, 1652. 

3 The ancient law ratified by Moses in Deut. xxv. 5. is supposed 
to have applied only to the brother, or according to the Rabbins, 
only to the elder brother by the same father. Custom, however, 



OF THE BOOK OF RUTH. 165 

It may be here observed, that the Holy Spirit, by 
recording the adoption of a Gentile woman into that 
family from which Christ was to derive his origin, 
might intend to intimate the comprehensive design of 
the Christian dispensation 4 . 

It must be remarked, also, that in the estimation of 
the Jews it was disgraceful to David to have derived 
his birth from a Moabitess ; and Shimei, in his re- 
vilings against him, is supposed by the Jews to have 
tauntingly reflected on his descent from Ruth. This 
book, therefore, contains an intrinsic proof of its own 
verity, inasmuch as it records a circumstance so little 
flattering to the sovereign of Israel 5 ; and it is only 
further necessary to appeal to its admission into the 
canon of Scripture for a testimony of its authentic 
character; or to mention that the Evangelists, in 
describing our Saviour's descent, follow its genealogical 
accounts 6 . 

The story related in this book is extremely interest- 
ing : the widowed distress of Naomi ; her affectionate 
concern for her daughters ; the reluctant departure of 
Orpah ; the dutiful attachment of Ruth ; and the sor- 
rowful return to Bethlehem, are very beautifully told. 
The simplicity of manners, likewise, which is shown in 
the account of Ruth's industry and attention to Naomi ; 

seems to have extended the obligation of marrying the widow of the 
deceased to the next of kin. Vid. Ruth i. 13. Boaz was only a 
kinsman of Elimelech, and by his marriage with Ruth, he fulfilled 
the law in its extended interpretation, as well as that in Levit. xxv. 
24, 25. Vid. Selden Uxor Ebraica. vol. ii. c. xii. p. 574. 
* Gen. xlix. 10. 

5 Hieron. in Tradit. Heb. ad 1 Kings iii. Calmet's Preface to 
Ruth, and Ruth iv. 22. 

6 Matt. i. o— 6. Luke iii. 32, 33. 



166 OF THE BOOK OF RUTH. 

of the delicate charity of Boaz 7 ; and of his acknow- 
ledgment of his kindred with Ruth, affords us a pleas- 
ing contrast to the turbulent scenes which had been 
described in the preceding book. The respect, likewise, 
which the Israelites paid to the Mosaic law 8 , and 
their observance of ancient customs 9 , are represented 
in a very lively and animated manner. It has been re- 
marked, that Ruth, in her wandering condition, might 
have suggested to Isaiah the description which he ap- 
plied generally to the daughters of Moab, that they 
should be "as a wandering bird cast out of the nest V 

7 Chap. ii. 16. Howel's Hist, of Bible, vol. i. book iv. and 
Thomson's Palemon and Lavinia. Strangers were allowed to glean 
by the charitable precepts of the Mosaic Law. Vid. Levit. xix. 
9, 10. Deut. xxiv. 19. 

8 Chap. iv. 6. 10. J. Buxtorf. de Spousal, et Divort. p. 27. 
edit. Basil, 1652. 

9 Chap. iv. 7. The form of redemption here referred to was 
apparently different from the degrading ceremony observed towards 
him who rejected his brother's wife, as enjoined in Deut. xxv. 9. 
though Josephus seems to conceive that it was the same concisely 
described, Antiq. lib. v. c. ix. p. 217. The Chaldee paraphrase 
represents the kinsman to have drawn off his right-hand glove in- 
stead of his shoe. The mark of transfer among the more modern 
Jews was an handkerchief, as R. Solomon Jarchi informs us. Vide 
Selden de Jure Naturali et Gentium, lib. v. c. 14. p. 570. and lib. 
ii. c. 2. p. 180. Vide also Ruth iv. 11. and Seld. Uxor. Eb. vol. 2. 
lib. i. c. ix. p. 568, and lib. ii. c. xii. p. 626. 

1 Isa. xvi. 2. Hieron. Epist. ad Paulin. 



OF THE 



FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL. 



The relations contained in the Book of Ruth formed a 
kind of digression in the sacred history, with a par- 
ticular view ; but the general thread is now resumed 
respecting the Judges of Israel ; and we are presented 
in this, and in the following Book, with an account of 
the events and occurrences which happened in the 
time of the two last Judges, Eli and Samuel ; and of 
the two first Kings, Saul and David. It is uncertain 
whether these books are called the Books of Samuel, 
because he was the author of them, or because his 
history constitutes a principal part of the sacred ac- 
count. They are in the Vulgate l styled the first and 

1 The Vulgate was a very ancient version of the Bible into Latin, 
but by whom, or at what period it was made, is not known. The 
Old Testament of this version was translated from the Septuagint. 
It was in general use till the time of St. Jerom, and called also the 
Italic version. St. Jerom's translation was made immediately from 
the Hebrew into Latin, or was the Vulgate corrected by the Hebrew. 
It was executed about a.m. 384, and it was gradually received into 
the Western Church, in preference to all preceding versions. It 
was published at Paris, by Martianay and Pouget, in 1693. The 
present Vulgate, which is declared authentic by the Council of 
Trent, is the ancient Italic version, revised and improved by the 
labours of St. Jerom and others. This is the only translation allowed 



168 OF THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL. 

second Book of Kings 2 , as two of those four books 
which contain the history of the Kings of Israel and 
Judah. 

The two books of Samuel were in the Hebrew canon 
considered but as one. The Talmudists 3 suppose that 
Samuel wrote the twenty-four first chapters of the first 
book, and that the rest was supplied by the prophets 
Gad and Nathan. This opinion is founded upon these 
words in the first book of Chronicles 4 : " Now the 
acts of David the king, first and last, behold they are 
written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the 
book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad 
the seer ;" and it is approved by many writers of con- 
siderable authority 5 ; who maintain that the prophets 



by the Church of Rome, and it is used by that church upon all 
occasions, excepting that, in the Missal and Psalms, some pas- 
sages, or the whole of the ancient Vulgate, are retained, as are the 
Apocryphal Books, many of which St. Jerom did not translate. 
There are two principal editions of the received Vulgate, one pub- 
lished by Pope Sixtus the Fifth in 1 590, the other by Clement the 
Eighth, which differs much from the former, though both are de- 
clared authentic from the Papal Chair, with much inconsistency, as 
the Protestants contend, but as the Papists maintain, only with 
latitude for a correct impression. Vide Kennicott's State of the 
printed Hebrew Text, and James's Bellum Papale and Treatise on 
the Corruption of Scripture. Some parts of the ancient Italic 
version, of which the copies are now lost, have been recovered from 
citations in the writings of the Fathers, and are published with 
supplementary additions, in Walton's Polyglot. 

2 These and the two succeeding books are called in the Greek, 
BaaiXetioPf the books " of kingdoms." 

3 Bava Bathra, cap. i. Kimchi. 

4 1 Chron. xxix. 29. 

5 Huet. Demonst. Evang. prop. iv. Isid. Orat. lib. vi. cap. ii. 
R. Kimchi, &c. 



OF THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL. 169 

were the historians of contemporary events. It will 
appear evident, at least, that the books of Samuel were 
written before either the books of Kings or of Chroni- 
cles, if we compare them together ; for in each of these 
last-mentioned books many circumstances are mani- 
festly taken and repeated from the books of Samuel. 
We may, therefore, assent to the general opinion, that 
Samuel was the author of at least the greater part of 
the first book 6 ; and probably he composed it towards 
the latter end of his life 7 . Certain, however, it is, 
from its admission to the canon, as well as from the 
predictions which it contains, that the book was the 
production of a prophet ; not to mention that it is 
referred to by our Saviour in vindication of his dis- 
ciples 8 . The first book of Samuel contains a space of 
near eighty years, if we reckon from the birth of 
Samuel, about or soon after a.m. 2868, to the death of 
Saul, which happened a.m. 2948. 



Procopius Gazseus informs us, that the Syrians call the book 
the prophecy of Samuel. 

7 Chapter v. 5. xxx. 25. ix. 9. In this last passage Samuel 
incidentally observes, that they who in his time and in that of Saul, 
were called prophets, were anciently denominated seers. The word 
prophet, (wil) was in use, indeed in the time of Moses or Abraham. 
Vid. Gen. xx. 7. It seems then to have implied an interpreter of 
the Divine will, or a man endowed with a Divine spirit. In the 
time of Samuel, it was appropriated to one who foresaw future 
events. Vid. 1 Sam. iii. 20. x. 5. xix. 24. In the latter part of 
Samuel's life, the word seer might have become nearly obsolete, 
though occasionally used in, and after his time. But perhaps this 
remark might have been afterwards inserted for the instruction of 
later times, as possibly were some few other particulars. Vid. vii. 
15. xiii. 5. xxvii. 8. 

8 Comp. 1 Sam. xxi. 6. with Matt. xii. 3, 4. 



170 OF THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL. 

The history opens with an account of the birth of 
Samuel. It records his consecration to the ministry, 
and his appointment to the prophetic office ; the cap- 
ture of the ark ; and the denunciation and infliction of 
God's judgments on the house of Eli 9 ; the curse on 
those who possessed the ark ; its return, and the signal 
punishment of such as daringly prophaned its sanctity \ 
It relates the election of Saul in conformity to the un- 
advised desire of the Israelites for a king 2 ; the wars 
and evils which arose, as had been foretold 3 , in conse- 
quence of this change of government, illustrating the 
futility of dependence upon an earthly sovereign 4 . It 
describes the sins 5 and rejection of Saul : the anoint- 
ing of David, and the first display of his piety and 

9 Chap. iii. 20. ii. 28 — 36. iii. 11. 14. compare with ch. iv. 11. 
xxii. 18 — 20. Joseph. Antiq. lib. vi. c. xii. § 4. p. 259. edit. Hud. 
1 Kings ii. 26, 27. 

1 Chap. vi. 19. The text, as it now stands, represents 50,070 
men of Bethshemesh to have been smitten upon this occasion for the 
presumptuous violation of God's express command. Vid. Numb, 
iv. 20. But the original words are more properly translated by 
Bochart : " he smote threescore and ten men, fifty out of a thousand 
men ;" that is, the number being 1400, God smote seventy, a twen- 
tieth part. Josephus understood the passage thus ; and it must be 
observed, in support of this interpretation, that Bethshemesh was 
but a village. Vid. Patrick on 1 Sam. vi. 19. 

2 The impropriety of this request will be more obvious, if we re- 
collect that God had condescended to be holden in the character of a 
temporal king to the Israelites, residing, as it were, among them, 
and issuing his decrees from the tabernacle ; to require a king was, 
therefore, to reject the theocracy. Vid. chap. viii. 7. xii. 12. Jo- 
seph, cont. Apion. lib. ii. § 16. p. 1376. Edit. Hudson. 

3 Chap. viii. 11—18. 4 Chap. xiii. 6—18. 

5 See 1 Sam. xiii. 9 — 14. See also Exod. xvii. 16. Numb. xxiv. 
20. and Deut. xxv. 17 — 19. compared with 1 Sam. xv. 

3 



OF THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL. 171 

heroism 6 ; the disinterested friendship of Jonathan and 
David ; the envious and ungenerous suspicions of Saul ; 
the death of Samuel ; the appearance of his spirit 7 , 
denouncing God's judgments against the impiety of 
Saul ; in the accomplishment of which judgments the 

6 The character of David is very beautifully delineated by the 
sacred writer, and his actions are placed before us in a manner well 
calculated to produce effect. He is first introduced to our notice as 
" a valiant and prudent man," anointed on the rejection of Saul ; 
and the historian then goes back to relate an achievement of David's 
youth ; for it appears that the combat with Goliath was previous, in 
point of time, to the driving away of the evil spirit of Saul, other- 
wise Saul and Abner must have known " whose son the stripling 
was ;" and, therefore, the seventeenth chapter records particulars 
prior in point of chronology to those related in the sixteenth chap- 
ter. Vid. Warburt. Div. Legat. book iv. sect. 6. note e . Such 
anticipations are not unusual in the sacred writings, and they give 
much animation to the history ; and the narration should be read in 
the following order : ch. xvii. xviii. 9. xvi. 14 — 23. Some writers, 
however, consider the thirty-nine verses which are omitted in the 
Vatican copy of the Septuagint, as an interpolation introduced into 
the Hebrew text, and the Alexandrian copy of the Greek version. 

7 Chap, xxviii. The most probable and best supported opinion 
concerning this relation is, that God suffered Samuel's departed spi- 
rit, or a miraculous representation of his person, to appear to Saul, 
and as a punishment for his presumptuous impiety, to disclose his 
impending fate. The text positively calls him Samuel (" himself," 
in the original) and he prophesied truly: for " on the morrow," that 
is, soon after, Saul and his sons were slain, and the host of Israel 
defeated. The woman was herself terrified at a real. appearance, 
when probably she designed a deception, and was preparing her 
incantations. Vid. Ecclus. xlvi. 20. Calmet, Commentaire sur 
Chapitre xxviii. p. 480. torn. ii. edit. Paris, 1724. 1 Chron. x. 13. 
Joseph. Antiq. lib. vi. c. 14. p. 269. Justin Martyr, Dial, cum 
Tryphone, pars sec. p. 364. Tertullian de Anima, p. 306, edit. 
Lutet. Paris. 1664. 



172 OF THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL. 

book terminates, with the account of the miserable fate 
of Saul, and of his sons. Some vestiges and memo- 
rials of events recorded in this book continued long to 
exist 8 . The sacred writer illustrates the characters 
and describes the particulars of his history in the most 
engaging manner. The weak indulgence of Eli is well 
contrasted with the firm piety of Samuel. The rising 
virtues of David, and the sad depravity of Saul, under 
the influence and occasional possession of an evil spirit 9 , 
are strikingly opposed. The sentiments and instruc- 
tions scattered through the work are excellent ; and 
the inspired hymn of Hannah, which much resembles 
that of the blessed Virgin \ discloses a grand prophecy 
of Christ, who is here for the first time in Scripture 
spoken of as the Messiah 2 , or the anointed of the Lord, 
whose attributes are proclaimed as those of the exalted 
sovereign and appointed judge of the earth. 

Samuel, the reputed author of this book, was obtained 
by the prayers of Hannah \ He was dedicated, from 
his childhood, to God, and then employed to renew the 
Divine threats which had been uttered against Eli and 
his sons 4 . He appeared as a prophet at a time when 
the prophetic spirit was but rarely known, and had in- 
deed for some time ceased ; he accepted the supreme 

8 1 Sam. v. 5. vii. 12. 

9 See Granville Sharp's Case of Saul. 

1 Comp. 1 Sam. ii. 1 — 10. with Luke i. 46 — 55. See also Psal. 
cxiii. 7, 8. 

2 1 Sam. ii. 10. The Messiah and the anointed are synonymous, 
n*ttflD, Meshiach, is derived from nttfD, Mashach, to anoint. 

3 The word Samuel, according to the Hebrew derivation, signifies 
" asked from God." 

4 1 Sam. iii. 1. 8. 11. compare with ii. 



OF THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL. 173 

power in the government of his country 5 without am- 
bition, and executed the important duties of his office 
with irreproachable integrity. When required by God, 
he resigned his power without reluctance ; and in com- 
pliance with the Divine commands, elected two stran- 
gers in the government, to the exclusion of his sons. 
He was much feared and respected by Saul, and the 
whole nation ; and was allowed by that monarch to 
judge Israel " all the days of his life 6 ." The author of 
Ecclesiasticus justly celebrates him as a favoured ser- 
vant of God, a righteous judge and a faithful prophet 7 . 
He w r as addressed by many revelations from God s ; 
and the miraculous circumstances that demonstrated 
his appointment, as well as the prophetic spirit which 
inspired him, were so conspicuous, " that all Israel, 
from Dan even to Beersheba, knew that Samuel was 
established to be a prophet of the Lord, who let none 
of his words fall to the ground." His first predictions 
concerning the destruction which impended over the 
devoted house of Eli were literally fulfilled to the 

5 Although the chronicle of Alexandria and Sulpitius Severus as- 
sert that Samuel attained the priesthood, by which some understand 
the pontificate, Selden maintains that as he was not in the line of 
Aaron, but a Levite, he was not eligible to the high priesthood, which 
in his time was rilled by Zadok and Abiathar. Vide Selden de suc- 
cessu in Pontificat. lib. ii. c. iii. p. 95. et Augustin in Psalm xcviii. 
10. p. 1066. torn. iv. edit. Paris, 1691. 

6 1 Sam. vii. 15. Patrick observes, that this verse may mean, 
that Samuel was so diligent in the discharge of his duty that he gave 
himself no rest, but sat to judge causes every day. Some consider 
it as a subsequent interpolation. Samuel may be supposed to have 
died about two years before Saul, in the ninety-eighth year of his 
age. 

7 Ecclus. xlvi. 13—20. 

8 Chap. iii. Psal. xcix. 6, 7. Acts iii. 24. 



174 OF THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL. 

second and third generation 9 , and these were followed 
by others which came to pass with striking exactness \ 

9 Chap. iii. 11—18. iv. 12—18. xxii. 18. 20. 1 Kings ii. 26, 
27. Vid. also chap. ii. 34, 35. which contain prophecies that were 
verified in Zadok and his predecessor, Abiathar, but which were 
more fully accomplished (on the departure of the Mosaic priesthood) 
in the person of Christ the great high priest " for ever." Vid. 1 
Kings i. 39. ii. 26, 27. 1 Chron. xxix. 22. Heb. v. 10. 

1 Chap. viii. 11—18. x. 2—9. xii. 25. xxviii. 19. 



OF THE 



SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL. 



If we assent to the opinion of the Talmudists, that 
Samuel did not continue the history beyond the twenty- 
fourth chapter of the First Book of Samuel, we may 
assign this Second Book, as well as the latter part of 
the former, to the prophets Gad and Nathan. Many 
learned Jews have contended, from a fanciful resem- 
blance of style between these and the works of Jere- 
miah, that this prophet compiled them from the me- 
moirs of Samuel, Gad, and Nathan \ We may conclude 
then, that what was not written by Samuel, was added 
by some of those inspired persons who were educated 
in the schools of the prophets, which he is supposed to 
have established 2 . These were colleges for the in- 
struction of select youths in the knowledge of the law, 
and the exercise of devotion 3 . Upon many of these 

1 Bava Bathra, Abarbenel, Grotius, and Locke. In 2 Mace. ii. 
13. it is said, that Nehemiah gathered together the acts of David, 
with other writings ; which perhaps means only that he collected 
them for the library which he is there said to have founded. 

2 The passage in xxiii. chap, of this book, which professes to give 
the last words of David, as well as other particulars which should 
seem to have occurred after the death of Samuel, may thus be sup- 
posed to have been inserted after their respective deaths. 

3 1 Sam. x. 5. 



176 OF THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL. 

disciples God conferred the spirit of prophecy; and 
probably most of the subsequent prophets were elected 
from these schools ; not, indeed, necessarily 4 , but be- 
cause therein fitted and prepared for the sacred influ- 
ence. They were under the direction of a prophet 
really inspired, who was considered as a father to the 
society; and Samuel was probably the first who pos- 
sessed that dignified character 5 . 

The Second Book of Samuel bears an exact relation 
to the preceding history, and is likewise connected with 
that which succeeds. We see throughout the effects 
of that enmity against other nations, which had been 
implanted into the minds of the Israelites by the Mo- 
saic law, and which gradually tended to the extirpation 
of idolatry. 

The history contains a period of near forty years, 
from about a. m. 2948 to 2988. It describes the esta- 
blishment and prosperity of David's reign, during its 
first years ; of which he showed himself worthy, as well 
by his generous respect for the memory of Saul, as by 
the excellency of those many other qualities which his 
maturer piety displayed. It relates the extinction of 
Saul's family, and David's grateful and unsuspicious 
kindness to the surviving son of Jonathan. The in- 
spired author then records the fall of David; and 
exhibits a sad proof of the wickedness to which the 
noblest minds may be seduced by passion. He repre- 

4 For Amos informs us, that he himself was not, chap. vii. 14. 
It was likewise proverbially said, " Is Saul also among the pro- 
phets ?" Is he raised to a dignity to which he was not disciplined 
by his education ? 

5 Whitby's School of the Prophets ; Smith's Discourse on Pro- 
phecy. 



OF THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL. 177 

sents to us God's anger softened, but not appeased, by 
David's repentance, who was soon after punished by 
the death of the child, and by many domestic calami- 
ties. The transgression of Amnon was the first con- 
sequence of his bad example : " the sword did not 
depart from his house," and "evil rose up against 
him 6 ," in the ambitious intrigues and rebellion of 
Absalom. The troubles which he personally suffered 
were the commencement of a long train of afflictions ; 
Ave soon behold him a degraded and fugitive sovereign, 
reviled by his meanest subjects ; and severely punished 
for his conduct towards Uriah, by the incestuous out- 
rage of his son 7 . The submissive repentance 8 , how- 
ever, and restored virtues of David, procured through 
the Divine grace, his pardon and re-establishment on 
the throne ; which he dignified by the display of the 
greatest moderation, justice, and piety. If in the 
exultation of his recovered prosperity, God suffered 
him 9 to be betrayed into an ostentatious numbering of 
the people, " his heart smote him" to immediate repen- 
tance, and he piously threw himself on God's mercy, 
and intreated that he alone might suffer from the in- 
dignation which he had provoked. 

The vicissitude of events which the book describes ; 

6 Nathan's prophetic threat, chap. xii. 10, 11. 

7 Chap. xii. 10—12. xvi. 21, 22. 25, 26. 

8 David is impressed with the most pious sentiments when the 
ark was carried out in his flight from Jerusalem, and he commanded 
Zadok the priest to return into the city in peace, saying to Zadok, 
" if I shall find favour in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me 
again, and show me both it, and his habitation :" but if he thus say, 
M I have no delight in thee ; behold, here am T, let him do to me as 
seemeth good unto him." ch. xv. 25, 26. 

9 Chap. xxiv. 1. and 1 Chron. xxi. 1. 

N 



178 OF THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL. 

the fall and restoration of David ; the effects of his 
errors, and his return to righteousness, are represented 
in the most interesting manner, and perpetuate valuable 
lessons to mankind. The author, in the concise style 
of sacred history, selects only the most striking features 
of character, and the most important incidents in the 
revolutions of which he treats. On a collective view 
of the scattered particulars which are disclosed, we 
perceive that the character of this chosen servant of 
the Almighty, exhibits the model of a sovereign \ in 
reverence of which succeeding sovereigns were in- 
structed to walk 2 , since he considered the glory of God 
as the principal object of his regard, looking to the ark 
as to the most sacred and nearest concern 3 , and making 
every preparation for the temple which it was reserved 
for Solomon to build 4 . Among the conspicuous beau- 
ties of the book, we can never sufficiently admire the 
feeling lamentation over Saul and Jonathan 5 ; the ex- 
pressive parable of Nathan ; the resignation of David, 
his expectation of a future life 6 ; and his triumphant 
hymn 7 . 

The prophecies contained therein are, first, that 
which blended temporal and spiritual blessings in the 
promises relative to Solomon and the Messiah ; the 



1 Chap. viii. 15. 

2 1 Kings xv. 3—5. 1 1. 2 Kings xiv. 3, &c. 

3 Chap. vi. 13—19. 4 Chap. vii. 5, &c. 

5 Chap. i. 17—27. This song is supposed to have been sung at 
the funeral of Saul and Jonathan ; it being customary among the 
Jews to solemnize the obsequies of their friends with dirges accom- 
panied by music. 2 Chron. xxxv. 24. Wolfii Curse Philolog. in 
Matt. ix. 23. vol. i. p. 170. edit. 3rd. Hamburgh, 1739. 

6 xii. 23. 7 xxii. 






OF THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL. 179 

building of the temple 8 , the permanency of David's 
throne, and the perpetuity of that kingdom which it 
prefigured 9 . Secondly, the predictive denunciations of 
Nathan ] ; and, lastly, the figurative descriptions in the 
Psalms of David 2 ; by whom the " Spirit of the Lord 
spake," assuring him of an " everlasting covenant 3 ." 

This book, likewise, as well as the former, contains 
other intrinsic proofs of its verity. By describing, 
without disguise, the misconduct of characters highly 
reverenced among the people, the sacred writer demon- 
strates his impartial sincerity ; and by appealing to 
monuments which bore testimony to the events which 
he records, he brought forward indisputable evidence 
of his faithful adherence to truth 4 . The Books of 
Samuel connect the chain of sacred history by detailing 
the circumstances of an interesting period. They relate 
the restoration of the ark and its establishment in 
Jerusalem by David ; and as they delineate minutely 
the life of that monarch, they point out his typical 
relation to Christ ; and likewise illustrate remarkably 
his inspired productions, which are contained in the 
Book of Psalms. His triumphs over the enemies of 
his country were, in some measure, figurative of spiritual 
victories over the adversaries of the church ; while at 
the same time, they contributed to the accomplishment 
of God's promises, by the extension of the dominion of 

8 Chap. vii. 13. 

9 Chap. vii. 12. 16. See also Psalm Ixxii. and lxxxix. 4. Heb. 
i. 5. David seems to have apprehended the great extent of God's 
promises, and in consequence to have burst out in rapturous acknow- 
ledgment of his goodness. 2 Sam. vii. 19 — 21. 1 Chron. xvii. 17. 

1 Chap. xii. 10, 11. 2 Chap. xxii. 

3 Chap, xxiii. 2. 5. 4 Chap. vi. 17. and Chap. xxiv. 25. 

N 2 



180 OF THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL. 

the Israelites to the utmost limits which had been 
holden out to Abraham 5 ; thereby affording a pledge of 
the future completion of the Divine assurances with 
respect to the universal establishment and glory of the 
Christian church. Heathen authors have borrowed 
from the books of Samuel, or have collected from other 
sources many particulars of those accounts which he 
gives 6 . This remark will equally apply to the Books 
of Kings; and, indeed, to all the books of sacred 
history 7 . 

5 Gen. xv. 18. xvii. 8. compare with 2 Sam. viii. 1 — -15. 

6 Eupolemus ap. Euseb. Praep. lib. ix. c. 30. p. 447. Huet. 
Propos. 4. p. 164. 

7 Theophilus ad Autolycum, lib. iii. Euseb. Praep. lib. ix. Clem. 
Alex, strom. i. 



OF THE 



FIRST BOOK OF KINGS, 



This and the following Book 1 were, in the Hebrew 
canon, reckoned but as one. They cannot with cer- 
tainty be assigned to any particular author, though 
some have ascribed them to Jeremiah 2 , and some to 
Isaiah. There are many, likewise, who contend that 
they are the production of Ezra ; and probably this 
opinion is most just, for they appear to be a collection, 
or historical abridgment of annals, selected from the 
memoirs and books of the prophets ; which are herein 
frequently referred to 3 , as records, doubtless, of con- 
temporary prophets. Thus " the Book of the Acts of 
Solomon," is mentioned in this very book 4 , and was 
probably written by Nathan, Ahijah the Shilonite, and 
Iddo the seer 5 . Hence, therefore, those who by the 

1 They were anciently called the Third and Fourth Book of 
Kings ; and were sometimes denominated from the first words, 

" in ^Dm." 

2 Bava Bathra, Grotius, Isidore, Procopius, Kimchi, &c. 

3 Josephus Cont. Apion. lib. i. sect. 7. p. 1333. Theodor. Praef. 
in Lib. Reg. torn. ii. p. 230. edit. Lut. Par. 1642. Huet. Propos. 
iv. p. 161. Edit. Par. 1679. 

* Chap. xi. 41. 5 2 Chron. ix. 29. 



182 OF THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS. 

Book of the Acts of Solomon have understood the 
Books of Kings, have supposed that they were com- 
posed by these prophets 6 : but we elsewhere read that 
Shemaiah the prophet was employed with Iddo the 
seer, in writing the acts of Rehoboam 7 ; that the acts 
of Abijah were written in the story of Iddo 8 ; the Book 
of Jehu the prophet likewise related the acts of king 
Jehoshaphat 9 ; and Isaiah wrote the acts of Uzziah \ 
of Hezekiah 2 , and probably of the two intermediate 
kings, Jotham and Ahaz, in whose reigns he flourished ; 
so that we may conclude, that from these several re- 
cords, as well as from other authentic documents, were 
compiled the Books of Kings. They appear to have 
been arranged by one person, as the style and manner 
are uniform ; and may with much probability be as- 
signed to Ezra, who possibly compiled them during the 
captivity 3 . 

The first book comprises a period of 126 years, from 
the death of David, a.m. 2989, to that of Jehoshaphat. 
After the description of the decay and death of David, 
we are presented with a most striking history of the 
reign of Solomon ; of his wisdom and magnificence ; 
of the building of the temple ; of his extended com- 

6 Cajetan, Serrarius, &c. 7 2 Chron. xii. 15. 

8 2 Chron. xiii. 22. 

9 2 Chron. xx. 34. and 1 Kings xvi. 1. 

1 2 Chron. xxvi. 22. 

2 2 Chron. xxxii. 32. and Isa. xxxvi. xxxvii. xxxviii. and xxxix. 
where much of Hezekiah's history is incorporated with Isaiah's pro- 
phecies. Theodor. Praef. in Lib. Reg. p. 230. 

3 The Chaldaic names by which the months in these books are de- 
nominated, were not used by the Jews till in or after the captivity. 



OF THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS. 183 

merce to Ophir 4 ; and of the visit of the queen of 
Sheba 5 . 

To this succeeds an account of the miserable dotage 
and apostasy of Solomon ; illustrating the frailty of 
human nature, and the sad effects of sensual and un- 
controlled indulgence. The history is preceded by a 
prospect of that threatened rending of the kingdom 

4 Various have been the conjectures concerning the situation of 
Ophir. Josephus places it in the East Indies, in a country which, 
by his description, should appear to be Malacca. Bochart contends 
that it was Taprobana, or Ceylon. Calmet places it in Armenia, 
Montanus in America, and Huetius in the eastern coast of Africa. 
As various have been the sentiments with respect to Tharshish, some 
considering it as having been near, and others as distant from Ophir: 
all that the Scriptures tell us is, that the navy of Tharshish came 
in once in three years, and afforded Solomon immense wealth ; of 
which we know not the amount, since we can make no exact esti- 
mate of the value of the talents specified : they were, however, cer- 
tainly of less value than the Mosaic talents. Vid. Prid. Pra?f. to 
Con. Bochart. Phaleg. lib. ii. c. xxvii. p. 157. Bruce's Travels. 
Dissertation sur le pays d'Ophir. Memoires de la Litterature, torn. 
xxx. p. 83. 

5 The most learned writers maintain, that the queen of Sheba 
came from Yemen, in Arabia Felix. She is called by Christ, " the 
Queen of the South," and is said by him to " have come from the 
utmost parts of the earth," as the southern part of Arabia was con- 
sidered by the ancients. She is supposed to have been a descendant 
of Abraham by Keturah, whose grandson Sheba peopled that country. 
She, therefore, probably resorted to Solomon for religious instruc- 
tion. Vid. 1 Kings x. 1. and hence our Saviour's encomium, Matt, 
xii. 42. She is called Balkis by the Arabians. The Ethiopians 
pretend that she was of their country, and many fabulous stories are 
told of her by different writers, under the name of Nicaule, Candace, 
Marqueda, &c. Vid. Ludolph's Hist. Ethiopica, lib. ii. cap. 3. edit. 
Frankfort, 1681. Discourse on Queen of Sheba, attributed to Dr. 
Johnson, vol. xv. Calmet, Diet, under word Nicaule. 



184 OF THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS. 

which was to take place under his son 6 . In the pro- 
phecy, and in the accomplishment of the memorable 
event, we perceive the exact adherence to the principle 
of respect to the righteousness of the father, in the 
mitigation of the punishment on the son, which was 
looked to in the faith of David 7 , and to which the 
Almighty repeatedly declared he would have regard in 
his judgments, particularly in the case of Solomon 8 . 
Afterwards are related the accession of Rehoboam ; his 
rash and impolitic conduct, and the consequent separa- 
tion of the ten tribes, which happened about a.m. 30*29. 
The establishment of a distinct kingdom was effected 
and confirmed by God's appointment under Jeroboam 9 , 
whose character formed a remarkable contrast to that 
of David 1 ; and whose profligate ambition led him to 
idolatry and wickedness productive of the most de- 
plorable effects. The Divine favour which had hitherto 
extended protection to the country, and even secured 
its frontiers from invasion, while the inhabitants went 
up to worship at Jerusalem, seems now to have been 
withdrawn, and the land to have become exposed to 
the incursions of its enemies. The account of the 
separation is followed by a concise sketch of the his- 

6 Chapter xi. 11, 12. God is represented in Scripture as some- 
times (especially in cases of idolatry) " visiting the iniquities of the 
fathers upon the children," when the measure of guilt was completed ; 
and in the foreknowledge that their descendants should persist in 
evil, God revealed as a punishment to the disobedient, those calami- 
ties which awaited their families. It was declared, however, to those 
who repented, that they might avert the Divine vengeance. Vid. 
Levit. xxvi. 40 — 42. 1 Kings xxi. 29. 

7 Psal. lxxxix. 30—33. 

8 1 Kings xi. 10—13. 29—36. 39. xii. 19—24. 

9 Chap. xi. 11. xii. 20. 24. x Chap. xvi. 19. 26. 30, 31. 



OF THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS. 185 

tory of the two kingdoms, in which particular periods 
are characterized by very animated relations ; as that 
of the disobedient prophet ; of the accomplishment of 
the prophetic curse of Joshua with respect to the re- 
building of Jericho 2 ; of the widow of Zarephath ; of 
Elijah and the prophets of Baal ; of Benhadad's pride 
and defeat ; of Ahab's injustice and punishment. In 
the course of these events, we contemplate the exact 
accomplishment of God's promises and threats; the 
wisdom of his dispensations, and the mingled justice 
and mercies of his government. 

The book is stamped with intrinsic marks of inspira- 
tion : of the prophecies which it contains, some were 
speedily completed 3 , but that which foretold that Jo- 
siah, mentioned by name, should be born unto the 
house of David, and slay the high-priests, was not ful- 
filled till above 350 years after it was delivered 4 . 
Some of its prophetic denunciations were uttered 
under figurative description 5 ; and Micaiah, to illus- 
trate the infatuation which God had suffered to prevail 

2 Chap. xvi. 34. compare with Joshua, cbap. vi. 26. 

3 Chap. iii. 13. compare with iv. 24, 25. vi. 12. xi. 11—13. 30 — 
39. xiv. 10. 14. xvi. 1 — 4. Jehu, in this last prophecy, foretold 
that God would make the house of Baasha like that of Jeroboam ; 
and it deserves to be remarked, how exactly the threat was fulfilled ; 
for as Nadab, the son of Jeroboam reigned two years, so did Elah, 
the son of Baasha ; and both were slain by the sword. Vid. xv. 
25 — 28. xvi. 8 — 10. Vid. also, for other predictions, chap. xvii. 1. 
(compared with James v. 17.) xx. 13. xxi. 19 — 24. Patrick, &c. 

4 Chap. xiii. 1 — 3. compared with 2 Kings xxiii. 15 — 20. Jo- 
seph. Antiq. lib. x. c. 4. edit. Hudson. Euseb. Praeparat. Evangel, 
lib. vi. c. 11. p. 284. See also other prophetic promises and threat- 
enings long after fulfilled, ix. 3 — 9. 

8 Chap. xxii. 17. 



186 OF THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS. 

in the counsels of Ahaz, that it might mislead him to 
destruction ; unfolds to the misguided monarch the 
danger of his projected enterprize, under a representa- 
tion received in a vision ; in which an imaginary coun- 
cil, and the supposed agency of a lying spirit are intro- 
duced, in order to explain the Divine conduct in some 
analogous proceedings 6 . Both the Books of Kings are 
referred to by our Saviour and his Apostles 7 . 

6 Chap. xxii. 19—28. Vid. also 2 Kings vi. 17. Job i. 6—12. 

7 Matt. xii. 42. Luke iv. 25—27. Acts vii. 47. Rom. xi. 2—4. 
James v. 17, 18. 



OF THE 



SECOND BOOK OF KINGS. 



Concerning the author of the Second Book of Kings, 
it has been treated in the preceding preface ; and it is 
here only necessary to repeat, that the Second was 
united with the First Book of Kings in the Hebrew 
canon, and considered but as one with it ; and that it 
was compiled by Ezra, or some other inspired person, 
from the records of former prophets. 

The history contained in this Book describes the 
government and actions of many successive Kings of 
Judah and Israel, for the space of about 300 years : 
from the death of Jehoshaphat, a.m. 3115, to the 
destruction of Jerusalem and of the temple, a.m. 3416. 
The connection and occasional quarrels which subsisted 
between the two kingdoms during part of this time, 
till the conquest of Samaria by Shalmanezer, seem to 
have induced the sacred writer to blend the two his- 
tories, as in some measure treating of the same people. 
Both nations appear to have departed with almost equal 
steps from the service of the true God; and in the 
history of each we are presented with a succession of 
wicked and idolatrous kings, till each had completed 
the measure of its iniquity. 

3 



188 OF THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS. 

Both Israel and Judah, though they invariably ex- 
perienced prosperity and affliction in proportion to 
their obedience or disobedience, were infatuated by 
their perverse inclinations; and in a long series of 
their respective sovereigns, we find few only who were 
awakened by God's judgments to a sense of their true 
interest and duty. The whole period seems to have 
been dark and guilty, the glory of the kingdom being 
eclipsed by the calamities of the division ; and by the 
increasing miseries of idolatry and ambition. Succes- 
sive tyrannies, treasons, seditions, and usurpations, and 
the punishment which they entailed, serve at once to 
illustrate the evil character of the times ; and the 
equity of the Divine government. The long suffering 
of God is remarkably evinced in the book, and his 
fore warnings and judgments were imparted and accom- 
plished with gradual and progressive advancement. 
The captivity of Naphthali l preceded that of the 
remaining tribes, and the invasion and conquest of 
Samaria, with the leading away of its people held out 
strong, though disregarded, admonitions to Judaea. 

The events are described with great simplicity, 
though in themselves highly interesting and important. 
The account of Elijah's assumption into heaven ; of 
Elisha's succession to his ministry ; and of the series of 
illustrious miracles performed by Elisha ; the story of 
Naaman ; and of the panic flight of the Syrians ; the 
history of Benhadad and Hazael ; of the predicted 
death of Ahab and Jezebel, and their children ; and of 
the destruction of Baal's prophets, are all pregnant 
with instruction, and have supplied a theme for frequent 

' Chap. xv. 29. 



OF THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS. 189 

dissertation. We perceive in these impressive histories, 
the characters and qualities of men painted with 
fidelity; and the attributes of God displayed with 
great effect. The particulars and circumstances are 
sketched out with a brief and lively description, and 
the imagination lingers with pleasure in filling up the 
outlines that are presented to our view. Few histories 
afford such striking relations, illustrating at the same 
time the events of public and private life. The sacred 
author, regardless of minute order, and of the succession 
of events, seems sometimes desirous only of presenting 
us with a view of the state of religion among the 
people, and of illustrating the genealogy of Christ. In 
particular, we observe, how the revolt of the ten tribes 
and their subsequent captivity contributed to keep up 
the distinction of the tribe of Judah ; and to make the 
prophecies which foretold that the Messiah should 
descend from this branch, more conspicuously accom- 
plished. 

The predictions described as delivered and fulfilled 
in this book, are those which foretold the death of 
Ahaziah 2 ; the birth of a son to the Shunammite 3 ; 
the recovery of Naaman 4 ; abundance in Samaria 5 ; the 
crimes and cruelty of Hazael 6 ; the recompence of 
Jehu 7 ; the three victories of Joash effecting deliver- 
ance from Syria 8 ; the defeat of Sennacherib 9 ; the 

2 Chap. i. 16. 3 Chap. iv. 16. 

4 Chap. v. 10. s Chap. vii. 1. 

Chap. viii. 10. 12. 7 Chap. x. 30. 





8 Chap. xiii. 14 — 19. compare with 25 



9 Chap. xix. 6, 7. 28, 29. 33. and Herod, lib. ii. c. 141. p. 172. 
Joseph. Antiq. lib. x. c. 1, vol. i. p. 431. This destruction is said, 



190 OF THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS. 

prolongation of Hezekiah's life l ; the Babylonish cap- 
tivity 2 ; and the peaceful reign of Josiah 3 . 

After the captivity of the ten tribes, the colonies 
brought up from Babylon. and other places, adopted the 
Hebrew religion, and blended it with their own idola- 
tries ; and henceforward, in point of time, we hear 
little of the inhabitants of Samaria. The kingdom of 
Judah still continued for above a century to provoke 
God's anger by its disobedience and idolatry, notwith- 
standing Isaiah and many other prophets exerted all 
their powers during the period to lead the people to 
repentance, by every motive of interest and fear. The 
good reign of Hezekiah, though lengthened by Divine 
providence, was too soon succeeded by the " evil days 

in the Babylonish Talmud, and in some Targums, to have been 
occasioned by lightning. It might, perhaps, have been effected by 
the destructive hot winds so frequent in those parts. Vid. Thevenot's 
Travels, part ii. book i. ch. xx. b. ii. ch. xvi. part 1. book ii. 
ch. xx. Jeremiah speaks of a destroying wind, where the Arabic 
renders it a hot pestilential wind, chap. iv. 11. Ii. 1. Isaiah 
threatens Sennacherib with " a blast," which might possibly be 
called the angel of the Lord. 2 Kings xix. 35. Isaiah xxxvii. 7. 
2 Kings xix. 7. 

1 Chap. xx. 6. Joseph. Antiq. lib. x. c. 2. p. 435. 

2 Chap. xx. 17, 18. God appears to have revealed to Hezekiah 
the calamities which awaited his descendants in the Babylonish cap- 
tivity, as a punishment for his ostentatious display of his treasures, 
in which he seemed to confide ; and for not having rather professed 
his confidence in God, whose mercies he had so recently experienced. 
These prophecies, and those in the ensuing chapters relative to the 
same captivity, were literally fulfilled above 100 years after. Vid. 
chap. xxi. 12 — 14. xxiii. 27. compared with ch. xxiv. 13. and 
Dan. i. 1—6. 

3 Chap. xxii. 20. 



OF THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS. 191 

of Manassek," in whose time the temple, and even the 
volume of the law, seem to have been almost entirely 
neglected. In the reign of Josiah religion for a short 
time revived ; a public copy of the law was discovered 
and read 4 , and idolatry for a few months was sup- 
pressed ; but the tide of iniquity having rolled back with 
accumulated force, Jerusalem is besieged and taken, 
the city and temple spoiled, and the noblest of the 
nation led captive to Babylon. The book concludes 
with the account of the second siege by Nebuchadnez- 
zar, which happened about eighteen years after the 
first ; then the city and temple 5 were burnt, and soon 
after the destruction was completed by the massacre, or 
flight of the remnant which had been left amidst the 
ruined cities of Judaea. 

* Chap. xxii. 8. xxiii. 2. 

5 According to Usher's computation the temple was burnt about 
424 years after it was built. Josephus, who conceives it to have 
been burnt 470 years 6 months and 10 days from the time of its 
building, observes with astonishment, that the second temple was 
burnt by the Romans in the same month, and on the same day of 
the month that the first temple was set on fire by the Chaldeans ; 
and the Jewish doctors add, probably with as little truth, that the 
Levites were singing the same hymn in both destructions, repeating 
Psalm xciv. 23. these words : " He shall bring upon them their own 
iniquity, and he shall cut them off in their own wickedness, yea, the 
Lord our God shall cut them off." Vid. Antiq. lib. x. c. 8. de 
Bell. Jud. lib. vi. c. iv. p. 1279. 



OF THE 



FIRST BOOK OF CHRONICLES. 



The Jews formerly reckoned the two Books of Chroni- 
cles but as one l ; which was entitled the Books of 
Diaries 2 , or Journals, in allusion to those ancient jour- 
nals which appear to have been kept among the Jews. 
The Books of Chronicles, indeed, as well as those of 
Kings, were in all probability copied, as to many of 
their historical relations, from these ancient chronicles 
of the kings of Israel and Judah 3 . Such chronicles 
must unquestionably have existed, since in the Books 
of Kings there are frequent references to Books of 
Chronicles, as containing circumstances which are not 
found in those so entitled in our canon ; not to men- 
tion that these sacred books were written after the 
Books of Kings. The Books of Chronicles which we 
now possess, were so named by St. Jerom : they are 
distinguished in the Septuagint as the books of " things 

1 They now adopt our division, as well as in the preceding books, 
in conformity to our mode of citation from concordances, of which 
they borrowed the use from the Latin church. 

2 o*n>n nn, dibre" hajjamim. Verba dierum, that is, The words 
of days ; extracts from Diaries. They are called Chronicles from the 
Greek word yjiovucoQ. 

3 Josephus, cont. Apion. lib. i. § 7. p. 1333. 



OF THE FIRST BOOK OF CHRONICLES. 193 

omitted 4 :" and they are supposed to have been de- 
signed as a kind of supplement to the preceding books 
of Scripture ; to commemorate such important parti- 
culars as had not been noticed, because not immediately 
connected with the plan of former books. They are 
generally, and with much probability, attributed to 
Ezra 5 ; who has used a similar style of expression, and 
whose book appears to be a continuation of them 6 . 
Ezra, if he were the author, might have digested them 
by the assistance of Haggai and Nehemiah ; as well 
from historical records, as from the accounts of con- 
temporary prophets. 

These books were certainly compiled after the cap- 
tivity, as they mention the restoration by Cyrus, and 
some circumstances that occurred after the return 7 . 
The author, however, appears sometimes to speak as 
one who lived previously to the captivity 8 ; but this 

4 UapaXenrofieviov. Thus Xenophon wrote the paralipomena of 
the Peloponnesian war, as a supplement to the history of Tliucy- 
dides. 

5 This book appears to have been compiled before that of Nehe- 
miah, by whom it is cited (Neh. xii. 23), though the genealogy of 
the descendants of Zerubbabel is said to be brought down much be- 
low the time of Ezra ; for if the Zerubbabel here mentioned was the 
same who conducted the people back from captivity, the account may 
have been swelled by collateral kindred ; or possibly increased by 
subsequent additions. St. Matthew, however, gives, in his first 
chapter, a genealogy so different, that it appears to be that of a dif- 
ferent branch, if not of a different family. Comp. 1 Chron. iii. 19. 
et seq. with Matt. i. 13. et seq. and Grotius, in Matt. i. 23. 

6 Comp. the last verses of 2 Chron. with beginning of Ezra. Pa- 
trick's Comm. in 2 Chron. xxix. 2l. 

7 2 Chron. xxxvi. 21—23. xxxv. 25. 

8 1 Chron. iii. 19. iv. 41—43. 2 Chron. viii. 8. x. 19. xx. 26. 
xxxv. 25. 

O 



194 OF THE FIRST BOOK OF CHRONICLES. 

probably must have been in consequence of his tran- 
scribing, without alteration, the accounts of earlier 
writers. 

The Books of Chronicles, though they contain many 
particulars related in preceding books, and supply se- 
veral circumstances omitted therein ; are not to be 
considered merely as an abridgment of former histo- 
ries, with some supplementary additions ; but as books 
written with a particular view ; in consistency with 
which, the author sometimes disregards important de- 
tails in those accounts from which he might have com- 
piled his work ; and adheres to the design proposed, 
which seems to have been to furnish a genealogical 
sketch of the twelve tribes, deduced from the earliest 
times. The object was to point out those distinctions 
which were necessary to discriminate the mixed mul- 
titude that returned from Babylon ; to ascertain the 
lineage of Judah ; and to re-establish, on their ancient 
footing, the pretensions and functions of each tribe. 
The author appears to have intended to afford, at the 
same time, an epitome of some parts of the Jewish 
history ; and in this first book, taking up the account 
at the death of Saul, he presents his countrymen with 
the picture of David's reign ; especially dilates on his 
zeal for religion; and on the preparations which he 
made for the building of the temple; probably with 
design to excite the reverence and emulation of those 
who were about to rebuild it. He describes particu- 
larly the regulations and arrangements adopted by 
David with relation to the Priests and Levites ; as well 
as to the appointment of the musicians and other per- 
sons employed in the service of the temple, which 
David established on a great and magnificent scale ; 



OF THE FIRST BOOK OF CHRONICLES. 195 

improving it with the introduction of hymns, of which 
there is a fine specimen in the sixteenth chapter of this 
book, expressive of the most fervent gratitude to God. 

The author, in repeating some particulars related in 
the preceding books, specifies the names of the persons 
who were employed, and active on great occasions ; by 
this means furnishing each tribe with an account of the 
actions of its respective ancestors. 

The genealogical tables of this book must have been 
highly important to the Jews, who were led by the 
prophetic promises to be extremely observant of these 
particulars. They exhibit the detail of the sacred line 
through which the promise of the Messiah was trans- 
mitted 9 . The precedency of the several families, their 
marriages, and many advantages, were often dependent 
on the accuracy of these accounts; and those, who 
could not prove their descent, were deprived of many 
privileges. A regular and unpolluted lineage was espe- 
cially necessary to those who aspired to the priesthood ; 
and such as could not produce it were deemed incapa- 
ble of admission to that high office 1 . Ezra, likewise, 
by pointing out the division of families, as recognized 

9 The genealogies contained in this book are carried back without 
interruption to Adam, through a period of nearly 3500 years. They 
afford a striking proof of the solicitude which prevailed among the 
Jews to ascertain the completion of the promises ; as also of the 
vigilant care with which the sacred accounts were preserved. They 
could not easily be corrupted, for most of the people could repeat 
them memoriter. The veneration for them was condemned by St. 
Paul as excessive and useless, after the appearance of the Messiah. 
1 Tim. i. 4. Tit. iii. 9. 

1 Ezra ii. 61, 62. Selden de Success, in Pontiflcatum, lib. ii. cap. 
ii. p. 156. and cap. iii. p. 161. Joseph, cont. Apion. lib. i. Maimon. 
in Mishnah Biath. c, vi. § 11. 

o 2 



196 OF THE FIRST BOOK OF CHRONICLES. 

before the destruction of Jerusalem, enabled each tribe, 
at the return from the captivity, to be restored to its 
appropriate inheritance. These genealogical accounts 
are likewise still useful in many respects 2 ; and, how- 
ever they may appear sometimes irreconcileable with 
modern systems of chronology, they were certainly con- 
sidered as accurate by the evangelical writers, inasmuch 
as they are cited in the New Testament 3 . 

The authority of the book is, likewise, established by 
the accommodation of a prophetic passage selected from 
it to the character of our Saviour by St. Paul 4 ; by a 
signal prophecy of the erection of a temple by Solo- 
mon with its plan and services revealed to David 5 ; by 
a typical assurance of the eternity of Christ's kingdom 6 ; 
as well as by other occasional predictions 7 . It may be 
added, also, as remarkable, that an inspired acclamation 
of David to the praise of God in this book, breathes the 
same sentiments of piety which were afterwards uttered 
in similar expressions by our Saviour, and which by 
St. John, in his enraptured visions, are ascribed to the 
blessed spirits who celebrate the praises of God in 
heaven 8 . 

2 We collect from them, among other things, that Nathan, from 
whom, according to St. Luke, our Saviour was descended, was the 
son of David by Bathsheba, (Bathshua,) 1 Chron. iii. 5. 

3 Matt. i. Luke iii. Joseph, cont. Apion. lib. i. § 8. p. 1333. 
Grotius Annot. in lib. Carpzov. p. 292. Huet. Demonstrat. Evang. 
Prop. iv. Walteri Officin. Bib. p. 555. Lightfoot Chron. Vet. 
Test. p. 142. 

4 1 Chron. xvii. 13. xxii. 10. Heb. i. 5. 

5 Chap, xxviii. 11. 19. 6 Chap xvii. 13, 14. 

7 Chap. xxii. 9, 10. 

8 Compare 1 Chron. xxix. 10, 11. with Matt. vi. 13. and Rev. v. 
12, 13. 



OF THE 



SECOND BOOK OF CHRONICLES. 



This Book, as well as the former, with which it was 
originally united, was probably compiled by Ezra, from 
the writings of the different prophets who are severally 
mentioned in Scriptures as the historians of their re- 
spective periods l ; as well as possibly from ancient 
chronicles which are supposed to have existed, and 
which may be conceived to have been composed by the 
priests, some of whom are called Memorialists, or 
Recorders, as Jehoshaphat 2 , and Joah the son of 
Asaph 3 . The book contains many things omitted in 
the historical books which precede. It begins with a 
description of the reign of Solomon ; and dilates with 
particular exactness on the munificent piety of that 
monarch, in the construction of the temple ; minutely 
specifying its ornaments, agreeable no doubt to the 
pattern described to David, as typical of spiritual 
decorations which were to embellish the Christian 
church 4 ; a subject highly interesting and useful to the 

1 1 Chron. xxix. 29. 2 Chron. ix. 29. xii. 15. xiii. 22. xx. 34. 
xxxii. 32. xxxiii. 19. xxxv. 26, 27. 

2 2 Sam. viii. 16. 3 2 Kings xviii. 18. 
* See 1 Chron. xxviii. 11. 19. 



198 OF THE SECOND BOOK OF CHRONICLES. 

Jews ; who at the time when this book was composed, 
were preparing to rebuild the temple. Hence the 
account of the solemn consecration of the first building ; 
of the noble and comprehensive prayer of Solomon; 
and of the covenanted promises which God graciously 
imparted at the dedication, when the glory of the 
Divine presence was manifested 5 , must have afforded 
much consolation to the Jews, scarcely yet reviving 
from the despondence of captives. Then is repeated 
from the Book of Kings, the representation of the 
magnificence and prosperity which Solomon enjoyed, 
agreeably to God's promise 6 . 

After this, we are presented with a recapitulation of 
the history of the Kings of Judah, occasionally inter- 
mixed with relations respecting Israel, when connected 
with Judah. Great part of this history is selected 
either immediately from the book of Kings, or both 
Kings and Chronicles, which were copied from some 
larger annals, known under the title of the Books of 
Kings ; since frequent references are herein made to 
some books of Kings, and occasionally to circumstances 
not extant in the canonical books 7 . These accounts, 
however, in the books of Chronicles, are enriched with 
many additional particulars, They afford us a lively 
picture of the state of the kingdom of Judah ; and of 
the various vicissitudes and revolutions which it sus- 
tained under different princes. They serve, as the 
author seems to have designed, greatly to illustrate the 
necessity of depending on God for defence, without 
whose protection kingdoms must fall. The advantage 

s Chap. vii. 1. 3. 12—22. 6 Chap. i. 1 1, 12. 

7 Chap. xvi. 11. xxi. xxiv. 27. xxv. 26. xxviii. 26. xxxii. 32. 
xxxiii. 18. xxxv. 27. 



OF THE SECOND BOOK OF CHRONICLES. 1 99 

derived from obedience to the laws of God, and the 
miseries which resulted from wickedness and sin, are 
strikingly shown. The book abounds with useful ex- 
amples ; and the characters are forcibly displayed by a 
contrasted succession of pious and corrupt princes. 
The change and defection even of individual persons, 
from righteousness to evil, is shown with much effect. 
In the representation with respect to the sovereigns of 
Judah, we perceive the decline of many from obedience 
to idolatry, and the recovery of Manasseh alone, from 
unrighteousness to repentance 8 . 

The Divine wrath was occasionally incensed to the 
infliction of immediate punishment for peculiar de- 
pravity, as in the instance of Uzziah, who was punished 
with leprosy for invading the priestly office, and offering 
to burn incense 9 . The rebellion of Israel, and the 
contest between the two kingdoms ; the preservation 
of Joash from the destruction which overwhelmed the 
rest of the house of Judah ; the discriminating judg- 
ments of God with respect to Jehoshaphat l ; the 
struggles between idolatry and true religion ; the 
opportune discovery of the copy of the law ; with 
many other interesting particulars which exhibit the 
interposition of the Almighty, defeating evil, and 
effecting his concerted purposes, deserve to be con- 
sidered with great attention. During this period an 
extraordinary number of prophets was employed to 
awaken contrition, to point out the impendent ruin of 
the country, and to open prophetic views of the king- 
dom of the Messiah ; their labours, however, were 



8 Chap, xxxiii. 1—19. 9 Chap. xxvi. 16—21. 

1 Chap, xviii. 31. Chap. xix. 1, 2. 



200 OF THE SECOND BOOK OF CHRONICLES. 

ineffectual to convert the people, who soon beheld 
successive invasions of Judaea, and were finally led into 
captivity. 

Several predictions are scattered through the books : 
as the promises made to Solomon 2 ; to Jehoshaphat 3 ; 
to Ahab 4 ; to Jehoram 5 ; to Amaziah 6 ; to Josiah 7 ; 
and to others 8 . Some sentiments appear to be tran- 
scribed from it into the New Testament 9 . 

The varieties and apparent differences which exist 
between these books and those of Kings, with respect 
to numbers, names, and dates, have deterred the 
Hebrew writers from commenting on them. These, 
however, are to be attributed to those various causes 
which have been before detailed l ; to our ignorance 
of periods so long elapsed; to the different scope of 
the sacred writers ; and to the mutilations and corrup- 
tions in minute particulars which have especially pre- 
vailed in the book of Chronicles ; for these books 
appear to have been copied with unusual carelessness ; 
and in none is the punctuation so defective. 

The second book contains a brief sketch of sacred 
history, from the accession of Solomon to the throne, 
a. m. 2988, to the return from the captivity, a.m. 3468: 
a recapitulation not only very useful to the Jews, but 



2 Chap. i. 12. vii. 17—22. 

3 Chap. xix. 2. xx. 15. 17. 37. 

4 Chap, xviii. 2, 3. 10. 19. 24. 

ft Chap. xxi. 12 — 15. Compare with 18, 19. 

6 Chap. xxv. 7. 12. 7 Chap, xxxiv. 22—28. 

8 Chap, xxxiii. 8. 

9 Compare 2 Chron. ii. 5, 6. with Acts vii. 48, 49. and xvii. 24 ; 
Iso 2 Chron. xix. 7. with 1 Pet. i. 17. 

1 Introduction and preface to Historical Books. 



OF THE SECOND BOOK OF CHRONICLES. 201 

■which reflects great light on other parts of Scripture \ 
and exhibits some coincidence with profane accounts. 

The two books jointly considered, present in a con- 
nected view, a compendium of the Jewish history, from 
the time of Saul to the return from the captivity. In 
almost all the Hebrew manuscripts, they are placed as 
the conclusion of the Bible. In most of the versions, 
as in our translation, they immediately succeed the 
Books of Kings, and precede the Book of Ezra. This 
appears to be the proper order, and is supported by the 
Cambridge manuscript. Dr. Kennicott supposes that 
the two last verses of the Second Book of Chronicles 
were improperly added to it by a transcriber, who 
carelessly wrote down the beginning of Ezra ; and on 
discovering his mistake, broke off abruptly, and begin- 
ning Ezra again, repeated the verses with proper 
distinction of place 2 . 

1 Hieron. Epist. ix. ad Paulin. et Epist. ad Domnion. St. 
Jerom justly remarks, that it were folly to pretend to a knowledge 
of Scripture without an acquaintance with the Book of Chronicles. 

2 See Kennicott, Dissertation on 1 Chron. xi. 1. vol. i. p. 492. 



OF THE 



BOOK OF EZRA, 



This Book was certainly written by Ezra. That he 
wrote the four last chapters has never been questioned, 
since, in several parts of these, he evidently professes 
himself the author, by speaking in the first person ! . 
Some critics have pretended that the six first chapters 
must have been produced by a person more ancient 
than Ezra, because Ezra is said in the seventh chapter 2 , 
to have gone up from Babylon after the events described 
in the six first chapters, in the time of Artaxerxes 
Longimanus : whereas in the fifth chapter, the author 
has been thought to speak of himself as present at 
Jerusalem, in the time of Darius Hystaspes 3 . If this 
be not a mistake, Ezra may perhaps be supposed to 
have accompanied Zerubbabel in the first return from 

1 Chap. vii. 27, 28. viii. 1. 15. 24. ix. 5. 2 Chap. vii. 1. 

3 Chap. v. 4, This verse is usually considered as an answer of 
the Jews. It may possibly, however, be regarded as a question of 
Tatnai and his companions. See verse 10. Perhaps we should read 
as in the Greek, Syriac, and Arabic versions, " then said they," 
and the objection is removed, and the sense amended. 



OF THE BOOK OF EZRA. '203 

the captivity 4 ; and he might have been again sent up 
to Babylon to counteract the representations of those 
who opposed at the Persian court the rebuilding of the 
city and temple ; and the account of his departure, 
which is given in the seventh chapter, perhaps refers 
only to his agoing up with that commission and power 
which he received, eighteen years after, from Artaxerxes. 
But whether Ezra were or were not at Jerusalem at 
the time when this answer is supposed to have been 
made to Tatnai, he may well be conceived, either as 
copying a public record of the transaction, or as re- 
lating a speech of the Jews, to have used the expres- 
sion of " We said unto them," meaning by " we," his 
countrymen ; which is surely no uncommon mode of 
speaking. Such objections are very futile ; and there 
is no reason to question the authenticity of any part of 
the book, which from the highest antiquity has been 
attributed to Ezra ; who certainly at least digested it ; 
and probably towards the end of his days 5 . 

It is written with all the spirit and fidelity that could 
be displayed by a writer of contemporary events. It 
is a continuation of the Jewish history, from the time 
at which the Chronicles conclude ; and the connexion 
of the two accounts is evident, since the Book of Ezra 
begins with a repetition of the two verses which termi- 
nate the Books of Chronicles. The sacred writers pass 

4 Nehem. xii. 1. If the author of this book were not the same 
person with the Ezra mentioned by Nehemiah, he might still have 
gone up from Babylon to Jerusalem before the seventh year of Ar- 
taxerxes. 

5 Huet. Demon. Evang. Carpzov. Introd. in Lib. Canonic. V. 
Test. Brentii Praef. Colonii Bibl. Illust. in Lib. Esd. Waited Officin, 
Biblic. p. 559. 

3 



204 OF THE BOOK OF EZRA. 

over the time of the captivity as a sad period of afflic- 
tion and punishment : during which, if the people were 
indulged in the exercise of their religion, they had few 
events to record ; and therefore we have no general 
history of their circumstances ; and must have recourse 
to the Books of Esther and those illustrious prophets 
who flourished among the Jews in Assyria, for the 
only particulars that can be obtained concerning their 
condition. 

The book begins with an account of God's having 
disposed Cyrus, either by positive injunction, or by dis- 
closing to him his long-predicted designs, to promote 
the rebuilding of the city and temple of Jerusalem. It 
relates the accomplishment of some illustrious pro- 
phecies in the release 6 of God's people, which that 
monarch granted in the first year of his reign over 
Babylon ; and in the return of the Jews 7 to their own 
country after a captivity of seventy years 8 , a.m. 3468. 

6 Isaiah xliv. 26 — 28. A prophecy uttered concerning Cyrus, 
described by name near 200 years before he appeared : justly noticed 
with admiration by heathen writers. It should be observed, that 
the two persons foretold by name in prophecy, were remarkable for 
eminent virtues. Among the Jews, Josiah, of whom the sacred 
writers declared that there was no king like unto him, before or after 
his time. 1 Kings xiii. 1, 2. 2 Kings xxiii. 2 — 25. Among the 
Gentiles, Cyfus, whose eminent qualities are beautifully described 
by Xenophon in his Kvpov liathla. 

1 Scaligerde Emend. Temp. lib. vi. p. 576. Edit. Colonise Allob. 
1629. 

8 The name of Jews seems to have been derived from the name of 
Judah, and it is remarkable that the Jerusalem Targum renders the 
prophecy of Jacob, with respect to Judah — " Judah, to thee shall all 
thy children confess, and by thy name shall all the Jews be called." 
The Jews returned from Babylon fifty years after the taking of Jeru- 
salem : but the seventy years which Jeremiah predicted as the period 



OF THE BOOK OF EZRA. 205 

We are then presented with a list of the leaders, and 
the numbers of captives who returned under Zerub- 
babel, and perceive how fatally the nation had been 
diminished and brought low by successive defeats and 
dispersions 9 . We contemplate the long train of a 
harassed people restored from bondage and returning 
to their country, which had for many years laid deso- 
late l . We behold them returning to their subjection 
to the Law of Moses and the Prophets 2 , erecting a 
temporary altar and service, and laying the foundation 

for the duration of the captivity, are reckoned from the third or fourth 
year of Jehoiakim's reign, a.m. 3398. Vid. Jer. xxv. 1. 11. xxix. 
10. At this period Nebuchadnezzar first invaded Judaea, and car- 
ried off captives. Dan. i. 1. 3. 2 Kings xxiv. 1 — 4. 2 Chron. 
xxxvi. 6. Patrick in Jerem. xxv. 11. xxix. 10. Dan. i. 1. Zech. 
i. 12. vii. 1 — 5. and Prid. Connect, part i. book iii. p. 105 — 9. 
Before Christ, 536. 

9 Cyrus might have been the more disposed to release the Jews 
from the increase of population by the arrival of his followers. The 
Persians wished to emigrate, but were restrained by Cyrus. Hero- 
dotus, lib. ix. c. 122. p. 746. Many of the Jews remained in the 
countries into which they had been carried. The Jewish writers say, 
that only the dregs of the people returned. It should be remarked 
that Ezra says, that " the whole congregation together was 42,360 ;" 
though, if we calculate the separate numbers, they amount but to 
29,818. Ezra, perhaps, omits the detail of some individuals, col- 
lectively reckoned : as those of the ten tribes, or those who could not 
find their registry ; or possibly the numbers are in some instances 
corrupted. 

1 Since the land had lain desolate only fifty-two years from the 
death of Gedeliah, some suppose that as the sabbatical year was oc- 
casionally observed by pious princes, the Jews had neglected the law 
concerning the sabbatical year, only from the beginning of the reign 
of Asa; that is, 364 years. Vide Preface to Leviticus, p. 109. 
note 4. Compare 2 Kings xix. 29. Tsa. xxxvii. 30. with Lev. xxv. 
5 — 7. and Universal Hist. vol. x. p. 178. 

2 Chaps, ix. x. 



206 OF THE BOOK OF EZRA. 

of their temple. Afterwards are described the lamen- 
tations of those who remembered the magnificence of 
Solomon's building ; the opposition excited by the 
Samaritans and others, whose assistance had been re- 
jected ; the interruption occasioned by their intrigues ; 
and, lastly, the finishing and dedication of the temple, 
about a.m. 3489 3 , and the celebration of the Pass- 
over 4 . 

Ezra then relates his return with his companions to 
Jerusalem ; confesses the disobedience of the people to 
God's laws, by intermarrying with the Gentile nations 
of the land ; describes his own pious and conciliatory 
prayer ; the repentance of the people, and their separa- 
tion from the wives and children, who not being of the 
holy seed, might, if suffered to intermingle with the 
Jews, have rendered uncertain the accomplishment of 
the prophecies ; and he concludes with an enumeration 
of those who had transgressed : stigmatizing with im- 

3 The Jews tell our Saviour, that their temple had been forty-six 
years in building ; which must mean the temple as repaired and en- 
larged by Herod. This work -vas beg ~ ~ : n the eighteenth year of his 
reign ; from whence to the thirtieth year of Christ was a period of 
forty- six years ; and the temple wu,_ m then entirely finished ; 
nor according to the account of Jose^ ; l the time of Agrippa, 
near sixty years after the birth of Christ. r-A. John ii. 20. Joseph. 
Antiq. lib. xv. c. xi. 699. de Bell. Jud. lib. i. c. xxi. p. 1006. 

4 It is necessary here to mention, that Justin Martyr, in his dia- 
logue with Trypho, asserts that the following speech of Ezra was in 
the ancient Hebrew copies of the Bible, but expunged by the Jews, 
viz. " Ezra said to the people, this passover is our Saviour, and our 
refuge ; and if you will be persuaded of it, and if you shall have 
thoroughly reflected upon it, and it shall have sunken into your 
hearts that we are about to humble him in a sign, and after these 
things we shall rest our hope in him, this place shall not be made 
desolate through all time, saith the God of hosts ; but if you will 



OF THE BOOK OF EZRA. 207 

partial indignation the names of even the priests and 
rulers who had offended in this lamentable violation of 
the law 5 . The work should be read with the prophe- 
cies of Haggai and Zechariah, which illustrate the con- 
dition and conduct of the people, and the circumstances 
in which they were placed. The predictions delivered 
by the prophets, while they reproved the murmurings 
of the people, consoled them in their dejection and 
despondence, by leading them to look forward to the 
glory of the Messiah, to be displayed in the second 
temple 6 . 

The history contains a period of about seventy-nine 
years: from a.m. 3468, when Cyrus became master of 
Persia, to a.m. 3546, when Ezra effected the reform 
described in the last chapter of his book ; for between 
the dedication of the temple and the departure of Ezra 
from Babylon, in the seventh year of the reign of Ar- 
taxerxes Longimanus, is a period of fifty-seven or fifty- 
eight years ; which this book passes over in silence, only 

not believe in him, neither hearken to his preaching, ye shall be a 
triumph to the Gentiles." P. 292. Edit, Thirlb. 1722. The pas- 
sage, however, probably never formed a genuine part of Scripture, 
since it could not have been surreptitiously removed from all the 
copies. 

5 The great object of the separation of the Jews from their strange 
wives was defeated in the instance of Joiada, whose marriage with 
the daughter of Sanballat eventually occasioned or confirmed the 
schism of the Samaritans, and the re-establishment of a separate 
government, together with the building of a temple ; penal effects of 
a transgression of the law similar to those foretold to Solomon after 
a similar transgression. See 1 Kings xi. 1 — 13. Ezra ix. 14. 
Nehemiah xiii. 23 — 28. Joseph. Antiq. lib. xi. c. 7, 8. Vol. i. p. 
oOO— 1. 

c Haggai ii. 7 — 9. Zech. ii. 10. iii. 8 — 10. 



208 OF THE BOOK OF EZRA. 

mentioning that the Jews had, during that time, inter- 
mixed with the Gentiles. 

This book was written in Chaldee 7 from the eighth 
verse of the fourth chapter to the nineteenth verse of 
the sixth chapter, and from the twelfth verse of the 
seventh chapter to the twenty-seventh verse; for as 
this part of the work contains chiefly letters, conversa- 
tions, and decrees uttered in that language, it was con- 
sistent with the fidelity of the sacred historian, to de- 
scribe the very words which were used ; especially as 
the people recently returned from the captivity were 
familiar, and perhaps more conversant with the Chaldee 
than even with the Hebrew tongue ; and it was pro- 
bably about this time that the Chaldee paraphrases 
began to be used; for it appears, by Nehemiah's ac- 
count 8 , that all could not understand the law, which 
may mean that some of them had forgotten the He- 
brew during their dispersion in the captivity 9 . Some 
assign, likewise, to this time, the origin of the Jewish 
synagogues, though it is possible that they existed be- 
fore the captivity \ 

Ezra was of the sacerdotal family, a descendant of 
Seraiah 2 , in a right line from Aaron. He succeeded 
Zerubbabel in the government of Judaea, by a commis- 

7 The Chaldee, or Syriac, was the language then used over all 
Assyria, Babylonia, Persia, &c. 

8 Neh. viii. 2. 8. Isaac Casaubon Epist. 390. p. 468. Edit. Hagse- 
Comitum, 1638. 

9 Univ. Hist. vol. x. book ii. p. 220. ! Psalm lxxiv. 7, 8. 
2 Chap. vii. 1 — 5. He calls himself the son of Seraiah, which 

only implies his descendant ; or at least, it is not probable that he 
was the immediate son of the high-priest Seraiah, who was slain at 
the taking of Jerusalem. 2 Kings xxv. 18. Prid. Con. Part I. 
B. V. Edit. London, 1718. 



OF THE BOOK OF EZRA. 209 

sion which lasted twelve years, to a.m. 3558; at the 
expiration of which term he either returned to Babylon 
to give an account of the state of the province of Ju- 
daea ; or else retired into a private station in his own 
country ; co-operating, doubtless, in the pious designs 
of Nehemiah, his successor, by whom it is related soon 
after, that Ezra produced and read the law of Moses to 
the people at their request 3 . Ezra, indeed, appears to 
have been particularly well skilled in the law, to have 
given much attention to the study of the Scriptures, 
and to have been well versed in the interpretation of 
them. He styles himself a ready scribe 4 , and professes 
to have prepared himself to instruct the people in the 
statutes of God : the tradition, therefore, of his having 
made a collection of the sacred writings is probably 
well founded. We know, indeed, from Josephus, that 
the Jewish priests, after every important war, were 
accustomed, on the establishment of peace, to digest 
new registers from the ancient records of the priests 5 ; 

3 Neh. viii. 1—3. 

4 Ezra vii. 6. The word, nstD sopher, implies one skilful in 
learning, or in the interpretation of Scripture. The origin of the 
scribes is uncertain ; they were probably first employed in subser- 
viency to the prophets, and, perhaps, educated in their schools. 
Judges v. 14. 1 Chron. xxvii. 32. Jerem. xxxvi. 26. They 
seem to have been established as an order of men after the captivity, 
and to have risen into repute after the cessation of prophecy. They 
are mentioned in the New Testament as doctors of the law, and 
teachers of the people. Matt. xxii. 35. and Mark xii. 28, &c. 
They appear in the later times to have corrupted the law by their 
traditions, and to have become deficient in purity of manners. 
Matt. xv. 3. v. 20. Luke xx. 46. Of the inspired scribes, of 
whom Simon speaks, there is no account in Scripture. See also 
Prideaux, Part I. B. V. p. 261. 

3 Ol 7repiXeL7r6fjLei'OL tCjv iepeu)p Katpa 7ra\w Ik tCjv ap^ctioji' ynau- 

P 



210 OF THE BOOK OF EZRA. 

and there can be no doubt that they exercised also a 
vigilant care to compare and to preserve the Scriptures 
free from corruption. 

Ezra, therefore, may well be supposed to have set 
forth a correct copy after the re-establishment of the 
Jews : and probably with the assistance of the great 
synagogue 6 , which particularly flourished in the time 
of Artaxerxes Longimanus ; not that there is any 
reason to imagine that the sacred books were lost 
during the captivity ; as some have absurdly conceived 
from the fabulous relation of a pretended burning of the 
law, and of the restoration of the Scriptures by divine 
revelation ; which account is 'given only in the apocry- 
phal book of Esdras 7 : a work of little or no authority. 
The copies of the law were too much reverenced to be 
lost ; and Daniel 8 , we know, was in possession of, or, 
at least, refers to one during the captivity. He like- 
wise quotes the prophecies of Jeremiah 9 ; and probably 
other persons had copies of the Scriptures, many of 
them being favoured by the conquerors. If, indeed, 
the sacred vessels of the temple were so carefully pre- 
served, we may well conceive that the authentic manu- 

fiariop crvviffravTat, are the words of Josephus, cont. Apion. lib. 1. 
§ 7. p. 1333. 

6 Irenaeus adv. Hseres. lib. iii. c. xxv. p. 255, 6. Edit. Grabe, 
1702. Tertul. de Cultu Feminar. lib. i. § 3. p. 151. Edit. Par. 
1664. Clem. Alex. Strom. I. p. 410. Edit. Potter. Basil. Epist. 
ad § 5. torn. iii. p. 129. Edit. Paris, 1730. Chilon, &c. Chrysost. 
Homil. 8, c. v. in Epist. ad Hebrseos, p. 90. Edit. Paris, 1735. 
D'Herbelot Biblioth. Orient, sub voce Ozair. Ben. Seraiah et Koran, 
cap. Bacra. Introd. p. 6. 

7 2 Esdras xiv. 21. 

8 Chap. ix. 11. 13. Vid. Joseph, cont. Apion. lib. i. § 8. p. 1333. 

9 Dan. ix. 2. 



OF THE BOOK OF EZRA. 211 

scripts of the Hebrew Scriptures were safely deposited 
at Babylon ; and perhaps restored to Zerubbabel, or 
Ezra, on their return to Jerusalem. But wherever 
preserved, Ezra certainly produced the Law, and read 
it to the people * ; and the other books of Scripture 
were collected by him and Nehemiah 2 , or by the great 
synagogue. 

Ezra was a most useful person to the Jews, who 
reverence his memory with a regard almost equal to 
that which they entertain for Moses. He is not parti- 
cularly styled a prophet in Scripture ; but our Saviour 
makes no distinction between the authors of the sacred 
books, except that of " Moses and the Prophets." Ezra 
was undoubtedly an appointed minister of God ; and 
he wrote under the influence of the Holy Spirit, or his 
book would not have been admitted into the Hebrew 
canon ; or received as sacred from the earliest ages of 
the Christian church. 

Ezra is reported by some traditionary accounts to 
have died in the hundred-and-twentieth year of his age, 
and to have been buried at Jerusalem 3 ; though others 
say that he died in Persia, and was interred on the 
banks of the river Samura ; where his tomb is shown 4 . 
Besides the books which are ascribed to Ezra in the 
apocryphal part of our Bible, there have been spurious 
constitutions, benedictions, and prayers attributed to 
him ; as likewise a revelation, a dream, and a prophecy 
relative to the Roman empire ; together with a calendar 
of pretended auspicious and unlucky days, none of which 
deserve attention. 

1 Nehem. vii. 2. and Ancient Univ. Hist. vol. iii. p. 418. 

2 2 Mace. ii. 13. 

3 Joseph. Antiq. lib. xi. c. v. 4 Benjamin Tudela. 

p 2 



OF THE 



BOOK OF NEHEMIAH. 



The Book of Nehemiah being subjoined in the Hebrew 
canon to that of Ezra, as a continuation of his history, 
was often considered as his work l : and in the Latin 
and Greek Bibles it is called the Second Book of 
Ezra; but it undoubtedly was written by Nehemiah, 
in a more simple style than that employed by Ezra, 
and he professes himself the author of it in the begin- 
ning, and uniformly speaks in the first person. It was 
probably admitted into the catalogue of the sacred 
writings by some rulers of the great synagogue 2 . 

Ezra appears to have continued near ten years in the 
government of Judsea, after the reform which he men- 
tions in the last chapter of his book : persisting, pro- 
bably, in his endeavours to restore religion, and to pro- 
mote the prosperity of his country. Circumstances 
were, however, so unfavourable and adverse to his de- 
signs, that in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes Longi- 

1 Hieron. Prsef. in Reg. Euseb. Chron. ad an. 1584. 

2 When Isidore asserted, that the second book of Ezra was not in 
the Hebrew canon, he meant the apocryphal book attributed to him ; 
for he says that Ezra's first book contained the words of Ezra and 
Nehemiah, 



OF THE BOOK OF NEHEMIAH. 213 

manus 3 , a.m. 3559, we find, from Nehemiah, that re- 
presentations were made to him at Babylon of the 
afflicted state of the Jews ; and of the ruinous condi- 
tion of their city, of which the walls were yet unre- 
paired. 

This book begins with an account of Nehemiah's 
grief at this report ; of his application to Artaxerxes 
for permission to visit and rebuild Jerusalem, "the 
place of his fathers' sepulchres." This he obtained, 
probably by the entreaty of Esther, the Queen 4 , who 
favoured the Jews. Nehemiah then relates his depar- 
ture, and arrival at Jerusalem with authority ; feelingly 
describes the desolate state of Jerusalem ; viewed with 
melancholy contemplation in the silence of the night, 
and details with affecting interest his exertions to re- 
pair its dismantled walls. He records the names of 
those patriotic men who assisted him on this occasion ; 
the conspiracy of the Ammonites, and other enemies, 
against the work, and the defeat of their designs. 
After the finishing of the walls and fortifications, Ne- 
hemiah applied himself to other public objects. The 
scarcity of the inhabitants in the large city of Jerusa- 
lem first excited his attention. He fortunately at this 
time found a register of those persons who returned 
from the captivity under Zerubbabel : which he repeats 
in the seventh chapter 5 , in order to complete the resti- 

3 Not Artaxerxes Mnemon, as some have imagined. Vid. Scalig. 
de Emendatione Temporum, prolegomena, p. 45. et lib. vi. p. 591. 
Edit. Coloniae Allobrogum, 1629, and Patrick. The month Chisleu, 
mentioned in the first verse of Nehemiah, answers to a part of our 
November and December. 

4 Chap. ii. 6. 

5 Chap. vii. This genealogy differs from that given by Ezra in 



214 OF THE BOOK OF NEHEMIAH. 

tution of their possessions to the respective tribes ; and 
that none but the Levites and descendants of Aaron 
might officiate in the service of the temple, and of the 
priesthood. 

Nehemiah then describes the public reading of the 
Law to the people ; the celebration of the Feast of the 
Tabernacles 6 ; and other religious appointments, ob- 
served with a pathetic commemoration and thanksgiving 
for God's former mercies, as described in preceding 
books of Scripture. An account follows of the renewal 
of the covenant of obedience and respect to God's law, 
recorded as a memorial, with the names of those who 
signed it, and a catalogue of those who were appointed 

the second chapter of his book, with respect to names and numbers ; 
which difference Prideaux attributes to alterations made by Nehe- 
miah, in compliance with changes that had happened since the de- 
parture from Babylon. It is remarkable that the two accounts agree 
in the total amount ; and the sum of the numbers, which are sepa- 
rately detailed, will correspond, if to the 29,818 specified by Ezra, 
we add the 1765 persons reckoned by Nehemiah, which Ezra has 
omitted ; and, on the other hand, to the 31,089 enumerated by Ne- 
hemiah, we join the 494, which is an overplus in Ezra's book, not 
noticed by Nehemiah ; both writers including in the sum total 
10,777 of the mixed multitude, which is not particularized in the 
individual detail. The accounts unquestionably agreed when they 
were received into the canon, unless where there might be some ob- 
vious cause for a variation ; and probably the differences that now 
exist have originated in the carelessness of the copyists. Sharp's 
Answer to Kennicott and Commentators. Seda. Olam. Rabba. c. 29. 
6 The Scenopegia, or Feast of Tabernacles, was a grand festival 
in memory of the Israelites having dwelt in tents in the wilderness. 
It began the 15th September, and was celebrated for eight days 
with great joy. The observance of it seems to have been much 
insisted on by the prophets ; and as it argued a sense of God's 
former mercies, it seems to have been attended with a blessing. 
Vid. Zech. xiv, 16, 17. 



OF THE BOOK OF NEHEMIAH. 215 

by lot, or who consented to live at Jerusalem, then 
surrounded by hostile neighbours. The book concludes 
with a description of the reformation, both civil and 
religious, which Nehemiah effected ; the last act of 
which, the removal of the strange wives, was, according 
to the general computation, accomplished about a.m. 
3574 7 ; but it could not have happened, as Prideaux 
has, on very sufficient grounds, determined, till a.m. 
3595 8 ; at which time he supposes the first period of 
Daniel's prophecy to conclude 9 , and the Scripture 
history to close. 

The work, which is written with a detail of circum- 
stances which could have resulted only from truth, 
affords very obvious but important instruction. The 
result of the zealous confidence felt and excited by 
Nehemiah, which enabled him and his people, by the 
Divine . aid, to recover the city, and raise up its muni- 
ments from a state which had excited the derision of 
its enemies, while compelled to work with weapons of 
defence, as well as with instruments of labour in their 
hands, finely illustrates the good effects of a trust in 
God ; and the success which accompanies a reliance on 

7 Blair's Chronology. 
The last act of Nehemiah's reformation took place under the 
priesthood of Joiada, (for the original of chap. xiii. 28. will not 
admit a construction which should represent Eliashib as the high- 
priest); and Joiada succeeded to the priesthood, a.m. 3591. 

9 Prideaux dates the period of the seven weeks from the seventh 
year of Artaxerxes, an. a.c. 458; when Ezra was commissioned 
by a decree to rebuild the temple, and to restore Jerusalem ; from 
that time, to the Reformation effected by Nehemiah, were forty-nine 
years, when the Church and State were re-established in the fifteenth 
year of Darius Nothus. Vid. Dan. ix. 25. Prid. Con. an. ant. c. 
409. Part i. book vi. p. 325. 



216 OF THE BOOK OF NEHEMIAH. 

that Divine word, which had foreshown by the prophet 
Daniel, that the wall should be rebuilt in troublous 
times, and had predicted by Zechariah, that the streets 
should be repeopled by its young and old \ 

Nehemiah was the son of Hachaliah ; and according 
to tradition, of the tribe of Judah 2 , though it has been 
surmised, from an apocryphal account of his offering 
sacrifices at the head of the priests, that he was of the 
tribe of Levi 3 . He appears to have been a different 
person from the Nehemiah mentioned by Ezra 4 , and 
in this book, as one who returned from the captivity 
with Zerubbabel ; since from the first year of Cyrus to 
the twentieth of Artaxerxes Longimanus, no fewer 
than ninety-one years intervene ; so that Nehemiah 
must, on the supposition that they were the same 
persons, have been at this time much above an hundred 
years old ; at which age it can hardly be thought 5 
probable, that he should have taken a journey from 
Shushan to Jerusalem ; and have been capable of a 
government of twelve years, and of all those active 
exertions, which he is afterwards described to have 
made. Nehemiah, however, the author of this book, 
appears to have been born at Babylon ; and was so 
distinguished for his family and qualities, as to be 
selected for the office of cup-bearer to the King: a 
situation of great honour and emolument in the Persian 
court. He bore the title of Tirshatha, which was in 



1 Dan. ix. 25. Zach. viii. 4, 5. 

2 R. Abarb. in Cabal. Euseb. Chron. Can. a. 1584. Isidore, 
Geneb, &c. 

3 2 Mace. i. 18. and following verses. 

4 Ezra ii. 1. Nehem. vii. 7. 

5 Michael. Prsef. in Nehem. 



OF THE BOOK OF NEHEMIAH. 217 

general appropriated to the King's deputies and gover- 
nors 6 . By the privilege of daily attendance on the 
King, he had constant opportunities of conciliating his 
favour ; and was enabled, by wealth derived from the 
royal bounty, to support his government with great 
magnificence at his own private charge, and generously 
to relieve his people from the burden of an expense 
which they had necessarily sustained under preceding 
governors 7 . In every other respect, likewise, he dis- 
played the most exemplary and disinterested zeal for 
the prosperity of his country 8 . If Nehemiah were not 
absolutely a prophet, he professes himself to have acted 
under the authority and guidance of God 9 . He seems 
to have conspired with Ezra in all his pious designs ; 
and probably assisted him in the revisal of the canon K 
The Jews report him to have been one of the great 
synagogue. The author of the second Book of Macca- 
bees attributes to him writings which 2 , if they ever 
existed, are no longer extant. 

After a continuance of twelve vears 3 in the govern- 
inent of Judaea, Nehemiah appears to have returned to 
Shushan, agreeably to his promise 4 . What length of 
time he continued in Persia cannot be ascertained. 
Prideaux, to allow a sufficient interval for the corrup- 
tions that took place during his absence, supposes at 

6 Neh. viii. 9. x. 1. and Michael, in Loc. 

7 Neh. v. 14. 18. His name signified consolation. 

8 Ecclus. xlix. 13. 9 Neh. ii. 8. 18. 1 2 Mace. ii. 13. 

2 2 Mace. ii. 13. Vid. Carpz. Introd. ad lib. Hist. Vet. Test. p. 
343. Frischmuth's Diss, de non sperand. Restitut. Areas Feeder, 
iii. cap. x. 

3 Chap. xiii. 6. i Nehem. ii. 6. 



218 OF THE BOOK OF NEHEMIAH. 

least five years ; the text only says " certain days 5 ," 
from which expression nothing definite can be collected. 
It is probable that he soon obtained permission to 
return to his country, where he appears to have ended 
his life. It is not possible to determine how long he 
survived his return. Many learned writers conceiving 
that Jaddua and Darius, mentioned in the twenty- 
second verse of the twelfth chapter of this book must 
have been the high-priest Jaddua and Darius Codo- 
mannus, who was contemporary with him during his 
priesthood 6 , and who did not begin to reign till 110 
years after the date of Nehemiah's commission ; have 
remarked that he must have lived an extraordinary 
length of time to have inserted this account; and, 
indeed, though it is by no means incredible that 
Nehemiah might have been permitted to live 130 or 
140 years, because his eminent virtues were highly 
conducive to the restoration of the prosperity of his 
country ; yet it has been thought by some more pro- 
bable that the whole, or at least the latter part of the 
register contained in the twenty-six first verses of the 

5 Nehem. xiii. 6. In the Hebrew it is " at the end of days," 
which means, perhaps, at the end of the year. 

6 Some have imagined that Darius the Persian might have been 
Darius Nothus ; but the only Darius who was contemporary with 
the priesthood of Jaddua was Darius Codomannus ; and the text 
enumerating the succession of the high-priests, evidently speaks of 
Jaddua as high-priest, who did not enter on his office, till a. m. 
3663 ; and, therefore, the verse must have been written above 100 
years after Nehemiah went up from Babylon, when we cannot sup- 
pose him to have been less than 120 or 130 years of age. The text 
would even lead us to suppose that it was written after the death 
of Jaddua; which would tend still farther to convince us that the 



OF THE BOOK OF NEHEMIAH. 219 

twelfth chapter was a subsequent addition 7 , made by 
those who superintended the canon ; that is, by some 
members of the great synagogue ; the whole detail 
being judged to be an unconnected and foreign inter- 
polation. 

Nehemiah frequently in this book calls upon God 
not to wipe out the good deeds that he had done ; 
rather in pious supplication to be remembered on their 
account 8 , than in any arrogance of heart. To have 
concealed the actions of his government, would have 
been inconsistent with the office of a faithful historian ; 
and have deprived posterity of an excellent example. 
The sacred writers, conscious of their own dignity, and 
looking only to truth, are alike superior to disguise or 
vanity. They record their own virtues and their own 
failings with equal sincerity. 

Nehemiah appears to have been the last governor 
delegated by the Persian kings ; who probably, after his 
death, left the government of Judaea to the high-priest 
of the Jews, till the Persian empire was destroyed by 
Alexander the Great 9 . Little or no information can 
be collected from the sacred writers concerning the 
state of the Jews, from this time till the commence- 
ment of the period at which the Gospel dispensation 

passage is a subsequent interpolation. Josephus supposes Sanballat 
to have lived at the time of Alexander the Great ; but the historian 
must have meant a different person from Sanballat the Horonite, 
who opposed Nehemiah : or he must have been mistaken. Vid. 
Joseph. Antiq. lib. xi. c. viii. p. 502. Prid. anno ante Christ. 
459. Part i. book v. p. 239, &c. 

7 Vossius. Chron. Sac. c. 10. p. 149. Prid. Con. anno ante 
Christ. 458. 

8 Chap. v. 19. xiii. 14. 22. 31. 

9 Cornel. Bertram, de Rep. Jud. p. 168. 173. 175. 



220 OF THE BOOK OF NEHEMIAH. 

was promulgated. They were engaged in contests with 
the Egyptians and other neighbouring people, and in 
commerce with the Greeks at the times when their 
distinguished authors flourished. This intercourse led 
to an acquaintance with the Greek language in Judaea, 
which at length became a province of the Roman em- 
pire ; so that numberless particulars with respect to the 
condition and circumstances of the Jewish people, may 
be collected from profane authors. 



OF THE 



BOOK OF ESTHER. 



This Book is, in the Hebrew, styled " the volume of 
Esther :" it was received into the Jewish canon with 
peculiar veneration ; and esteemed above many of the 
prophetic books, probably because therein are described 
the origin and ceremonies of the feast of Purim. It is 
called the Book of Esther \ as it contains the history 
of this Jewish captive, who by her remarkable accom- 
plishments, gained the affections of Ahasuerus ; and by 
a marriage with him, was raised to the throne of Per- 
sia. The author of the book is not certainly known. 
Some of the fathers 2 suppose it to have been written 
by Ezra ; others contend that it was composed by 
Joachim, high-priest of the Jews, and grandson of 

1 The word Esther is of Persian derivation, Starith, Astram, 
"Etrrepa; its signification is uncertain. The vowel is prefixed for 
softness, according to the Hebrew idiom. Vid. Castel. in Lexico 
Heptaglotton Persico, col. 329, and PfeifFer in Dub. Vex. p. 458. 
The original word was descriptive, and signified Dark, which was 
deemed beautiful by the Jews. Hilar. CEcon. p. 621. Theocrit. 
Idyl. x. 26 — 29. Esther was called by her own family Hadassah, 
which implies a myrtle. Yid. Targum, ad chap. ii. 7. 

2 August, de Civit. Dei, lib. xviii. c. xxxvi. p. 519. torn. vi. edit. 
Paris, 1685. See also Epiphan. de Ponder, et Mensur. cap. iv. 
lsidor. Orig. lib. vi. cap. ii. 



222 OF THE BOOK OF ESTHER. 

Josedech. The Talmudists attribute it to the joint 
labours of the great synagogue 3 , which succeeded 
Ezra in the superintendence of the canon of Scripture. 
The twentieth verse of the ninth chapter of the book 
has led others to believe that Mordecai was the au- 
thor 4 ; but what is there related to have been written 
by him, seems only to refer to the circular letter which 
he distributed 5 . There are, lastly, other writers who 
maintain, that the book was the production of Esther's 
and Mordecai's united industry 6 ; and probably they 
might have communicated an account of events so in- 
teresting to the whole nation, to the great synagogue 
at Jerusalem ; some of the members of which may 
with great reason be supposed to have digested the 
information thus received into its present form 7 . We 
have, however, no sufficient evidence to determine, nor 
is it, perhaps, of much importance to ascertain precisely 
who was the author ; but that it was a genuine and 
faithful description of what did actually happen is cer- 
tain ; not only from its admission into the canon, but 
also from the institution of the feast of Purim, which, 
from its first establishment, has been regularly observed 
as an annual solemnity 8 ; on the fourteenth and fif- 

8 Bava Bathra, cap. 1. f. 15. 

4 As most of the Latin fathers, and Clemens Alexandrinus among 
the Greeks, Strom, lib. i. p. 392. Vid. also, Elias in Mass. Aben- 
Ezra, Abrah. Hispan. &c. 

5 Chap. ix. 20. 23. 26. 6 Chap. ix. 29. 

7 Huet. Demonstrat. Evang. Prop. iv. p. 174. 

8 2 Mace. xv. 36, 37. Codex. Theod. Tit. viii. de Judseis, &c. 
torn. vi. p. 233. edit. Lugdun. 1665. The feast is called also the 
feast of Haman and Mordecai. The month Adar corresponds with 
our February and March. Esther and Mordecai appear to have or- 
dained only a feast : but the Jews observe, as they profess long to 



OF THE BOOK OF ESTHER. 223 

teenth days of the month Adar, in commemoration of 
the great deliverance which Esther, by her interest, had 
procured ; and which is even now celebrated among the 
Jews with many peculiar ceremonies, and with " drink- 
ing of wine even to excess 9 ." - This festival was called 
Purim, or the feast of lots (Pur, in the Hebrew and 
Persian language, signifying a lot), from the events 
mentioned in chap. iii. 7. ix. 24. 

The Jews l maintain that this book was unquestion- 
ably inspired by the Holy Ghost ; and that though all 
the books of the Prophets, and of the Hagiographi shall 
be destroyed at the coming of the Messiah, that of 
Esther shall continue with those of Moses, for Esther 
had said, that " the days of Purim should not fail from 
among the Jews 2 ." This is meant, however, only of 
that part of the book which our church considers as 
canonical ; for the six chapters, which are only in the 
Greek and Latin copies, were never received by the 
Jews ; and they are rejected as apocryphal by us, in 
conformity to the sentiments of the ancient church, for 
this and other reasons which will be hereafter assigned 3 . 
It is to be lamented, indeed, that the spurious chapters 
should ever have been annexed to the authentic part, 
since they have tended to bring discredit on the sacred 

have done, a fast on the 13th, which was the day destined for their 
extirpation. Joseph. Antiq. lib. ix. c. vi. p. 449. Christian Mag. 
vol. iv. p. 260. Prid. Con. arm. 452. pt. i. book v. Buxtorf. 
Synag. Jud. c. xxiv. p. 429. edit. Hanov. 1604. Calmet, Diet, word 
Purim. Vide Tractat. Critic. Purim, referente W. Shikart, torn. viii. 
p. 482, 3. edit. Londin. 1660. 
9 Vide Calmet. 

1 Maimon. More Nevoch. par. ii. c. xlv. p. 317. edit. Buxtorf. 

2 Chap. ix. 28. Pfeiffer. Thesaur. Hermeneut. p. 599. 

3 Preface to the apocryphal chapters of Esther. 

3 



224 



OF THE BOOK OF ESTHER. 



book ; and it has been supposed that a disrespect for 
the apocryphal additions induced some ancient writers 
to leave the work out of the catalogue of the canonical 
books 4 ; and occasioned Luther to express a wish that 
it might be expunged from the list 5 . These, how- 
ever, being rescinded, the remainder is entitled to our 
reverence as canonical. It is established by the suf- 
frage of antiquity, and bears every mark of authenticity 
and truth 6 . 

There has been much difference of opinion concerning 
the period which we should assign to the events re- 
corded in this book. It is certain, from many instances, 
that the Jews distinguished foreign persons by names 
different from those which they bear in profane his- 
tory 7 ; as, indeed, all nations are accustomed to cor- 
rupt proper names in conformity to the genius and 
pronunciation of their own language. Scaliger, upon 
many considerations, contends that Ahasuerus was the 
same with Xerxes 8 ; whose queen, Amestris, he con- 
ceives, might have been Esther. Some have imagined 

4 Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. c. xxvi. Athan. Oper. p. 55. torn, 
ii. edit. Par. 1627. Gregor. Nazianz. de Ver. et German. Script, 
torn. ii. p. 98 edit. Par. 1630. Some think that Esther was in- 
cluded in these catalogues, under the Book of Ezra, as it was sup- 
posed to have been written by Ezra. It was in the catalogues of 
Origen, Cyril, Hilary, Epiphanius, and Jerom, and in that of the 
council of Laodicea. Vid. infra, Pref. to Apocryph. chapters of Es- 
ther. Note. 

5 Conviv. Serm. f. 494. and Lib. de Serv. Arbit. torn. iii. f. 82. 

6 Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. vi. c. xxv. p. 226. edit. Paris, 1659. 
Hilar. Prolog, in Lib. Psalm, p. 9. edit. Paris, 1693. 

7 Vitringa Observat. Sacr. vol. i. c. iv. p. 49. edit. Amstel. 1727- 

8 Scaliger de Emendat. Temp. lib. vi. p. 284. Edit. Colon. Allob. 
1629. Grotius, Michaelis, &c. Capellus places the history so late as 
the time of Ochus, who was the successor of Artaxerxes Mnemon. 



OF THE BOOK OF ESTHER. 2*25 

that Ahasuerus was Cyaxares ; and others assert that 
he was Cambyses 9 . Usher supposes, that by Ahasuerus 
we are to understand Darius Hystaspes *, who resided 
at Susa, and whose extent of dominion and actions 
corresponded with the accounts of this book. But to 
each of these opinions considerable objections may be 
made, from the accounts of profane historians 2 ; and 
probably the persuasion of Prideaux is best supported, 
who maintains, agreeably to the account of Josephus 3 ; 
of the Septuagint ; and of the apocryphal additions to 
the Book of Esther, that Ahasuerus was Artaxerxes 
Longimanus 4 ; whose extraordinary favour to the Jews 
might in some measure arise from the influence of 
Esther. The history, therefore, may be supposed to 
have commenced about a.m. 3544 5 , and it contains an 

9 Targ. R. Salomon, Seder Olara Rabba, p. 86. 

1 Usseri Annal. Vet. Test. Period. Jul. an. 4193. DuPin, Maius 
CEcon. V. T. p. 1073. The advocates for this opinion maintain, 
with the Rabbinical writers, that Esther was the Artystona of Da 
riiis ; but Artystona was the daughter of Cyrus ; and the history of 
Atossa by no means accords, any more than does that of Parmis, 
with the account here given of Vashti. Vid. Herod, lib. iii. p. 246". 
lib. vii. p. 506. edit. Wesselin. 

2 Universal Hist, of Persia, book 1. and Hist, of Jews, book 2. 
lib. xi. 

3 Joseph. Ant. lib. xi. c. vi. 

4 Prid. Con. an. 470. Sulpit. Sever. Hist. Sac. lib. ii. p. 307. 
Calmet, Diet, word Vashti. Lightfoot, vol. i. p. 137. The chief 
objection to the period of Artaxerxes Longimanus is drawn from 
Esther ii. 5, 6. but that passage may imply, that Kish was carried 
away captive with Jeconiah ; or that Mordecai was a descendant of 
some one of Nebuchadnezzar's captives. 

5 Scaliger de Emend. Temp. lib. vi. p. 595 — 8. Auctor Eccles. 
Goth. p. 319. 

Q 



226 OF THE BOOK OF ESTHER. 

account of a period which extends from ten to twenty 
years. 

The book describes the advancement of Esther ; who, 
by the interest which she conciliated with Ahasuerus, 
delivered the Jews from a great destruction which had 
been contrived for them by Haman, an insolent fa- 
vourite of the king. It presents an interesting descrip- 
tion of mortified pride, and of malice baffled to the ruin 
of its contrivers. It likewise exhibits a very animated 
representation of the vexations and troubles, of the 
anxieties, treachery, and dissimulation of a corrupt 
court. The vicissitudes and characters are displayed 
with dramatic effect. The author seems to have been 
so intimately acquainted with the Persian customs, that 
some have conceived a notion that he transcribed his 
work from Persian chronicles 6 . It has been remarked, 
that the name of God is not mentioned throughout the 
book ; his superintendent providence is, however, frer 
quently illustrated ; it is shown, indeed, in every part 
of the work ; disconcerting evil designs, and producing 
great events by means seemingly inadequate. The de- 
scriptions which it contains of the eastern court exhibit 
a remarkable consistency with the representations of 
heathen authors ; we perceive in them the exact fidelity 
of a contemporary writer ; and the animated piety with 
which the historian details the operations of the divine 

6 Hottinger. Thesaur. Philog. lib. ii. ch. i. p. 488. Aben-Ezra, 
Commentary in Prooem. It is to be observed, that the decree which 
was issued in favour of the Jews did not repeal the former decree, 
because the laws of the Medes and Persians could not be changed, 
but it empowered them to defend themselves, see chap. i. 19. viii. 8. 
and Daniel vi. 8. Huetius, Selden, &c. 



OF THE BOOK OF ESTHER. 227 

counsels in defeating the machinations of the wicked, 
and in delivering his faithful servants from destruction, 
is shown with singular impression and effect. 

Calmet asserts, on the authority of Paul Lucas, that 
the tombs of Mordecai and Esther were still shown at 
Hamadan or Ecbatana in Persia, in the synagogue of 
the Jews, who at that time were numerous there. 



Q2 



OF THE 



BOOK OF JOB. 



Concerning the nature, and author of this Book, 
various opinions have been entertained. Some, as well 
Christian as Rabbinical writers, have ventured to con- 
sider it as a relation of the parabolical kind, without 
any historical foundation * ; and others as a dramatic 
work, grounded on some traditional accounts of a real 
personage ; or as an allegory, in which, under real cha- 
racters and circumstances, are shadowed out the Jewish 
nation, and some particulars of the Jewish history 
during 2 or after the Babylonish captivity 3 . But to 

1 Bava Bathra, Anabaptists, &c. 

2 Garnett taking some notions of Warburton, has etched out an 
ingenious allegory, in which the condition of Job is considered as 
descriptive of the Jewish sufferings during the captivity. But though 
he has strained every circumstance in the history in order to accom- 
modate his theory to this representation, he has produced no convic- 
tion. A lively fancy may readily discover such resemblances as he 
has pointed out ; but if the judgment be allowed to reflect, it will 
suggest unanswerable objections to the scheme, however specious it 
may be. Vid. Garnett's Dissert, on Job. The Use and Intent of 
Prophecy, Diss. II. Maimon. More Nevoch, p. 3. c. xxii. Bava 
Bathra, c. i. fol. 15. Sentimens de quelq. Theolog. Holland, p. 184. 
Grotius Com. in Job, lib. i. Le Clerc, &c. 

3 Warburton imagined, that Job was intended to personate the 
Jewish people on their return from the captivity ; that by his three 
friends were meant the three great enemies of the Jews : Sanballat, 



OF THE BOOK OF JOB. 229 

indulge in such unauthorised fancies is very dangerous, 
and inconsistent with the respect due to sacred writ : 
in the present instance there is no sufficient foundation 
for supposing that the book is any other than a literal 
history of the temptation and sufferings of an actual 
personage 4 ; since it has every external sanction of 
authority, and is stamped with every intrinsic mark 
that can characterize a genuine relation. 

Of the real existence of Job no reasonable doubt can 
be entertained, if we consider that it is affirmed by the 
concurrent testimony of all eastern tradition ; that the 
whole history of this illustrious character, with many 
fabulous additions, was known among the Syrians and 
Chaldaeans ; that many of the noblest families among 
the Arabians are distinguished by his name 5 , and boast 
of being descended from him ; and lastly, that Job is 
mentioned as a real character by Ezekiel 6 and St. 
James 7 . 

Tobiah, and Geshem ; and by Job's wife, the idolatrous wives whom 
some of the Jews had married, as we learn from Nehemiah : a strange 
conceit, of which the improbabilities are by no means glossed over 
by the elaborate reasoning, and extravagant assertions of the learned 
writer. Vid. Peter's Dissert, on Job. Divine Legation, vol. iii. 
b. vi. § 2. 

4 Spanheim Hist. Job. Schultens Com. in Job, and Commentators 
in general. 

5 As was Zalach Eddin, usually styled Saladin, sultan of the 
Mamelukes ; who bore the name of Job, as did likewise his father. 
Vid. Elmacin. Historia Saracenica. The authority of Aristotle and 
other ancient writers, have been produced also to prove the real ex- 
istence of Job. There are even now traditionary accounts concern- 
ing the place of Job's abode. Vid. Thevenot's Voyage, p. 447. Le 
Roque Voyages de Syrie, torn. i. p. 239. 

6 Ezek. xiv. 14. 

7 James v. 11. Vid. also Tobit ii. 12. 15. in Vulgate. Clemen. 



230 OF THE BOOK OF JOB. 

The book of Job bears every appearance of a literal 
relation of actual events : this is evident from the style 
of the author ; from his mode of introducing the sub- 
ject ; and also from the circumstantial detail of habita- 
tion, kindred, and condition, as well as from the names 
of the persons therein mentioned ; which correspond 
with other accounts of that age and country, in which 
Job is generally supposed to have existed 8 . The book 
then must be allowed to contain a literal history of real 
events ; though, agreeably to the opinion of Grotius, 
the subject is poetically treated ; for notwithstanding 
the first and last parts of the work, which are entirely 
narrative, are expressed in a style nearly as simple as 
that of the historical books of Samuel or of Kings, the 
rest resembles rather the poetical works of David and 
of Solomon. 

Considering then that the work is in a great measure 
poetical, and that probably it was written in metre, we 
shall readily account for that want of order and ar- 
rangement, which, by the omission of trivial particulars, 
and by the neglect of distinction of times, occasionally 

Epist. ad Cor. ch. xvii. and Arist. apud Euseb. Prsep. Evang. lib. 
vii. c. viii. p. 811. lib. ix. c. xxv. p. 430. 

8 It has been said, that the names of Job and his friends have a 
mystical meaning ; but most of the eastern names have some descrip- 
tive signification. Spanheim derives the name of Job from an He- 
brew root, n«», i7ri7rode~iv, amare, a word which imports love, or be- 
loved. And this is more probable than the derivation sometimes 
given from a word expressive of grief; which, if accepted, must be 
supposed to have been applied after Job's misfortunes. Michaelis in 
his preface derives the name of Job from a word which signifies re- 
pentance, which was perhaps suggested by Mahomet, who refers to 
sacred and traditional accounts of Job. See Sale's Koran, vol. ii. 
c. xxxviii. p. 322. also ch. xxi. p. 162. 



OF THE BOOK OF JOB. 231 

gives an air of improbability to the book. Many cir- 
cumstances, "which must have occurred at intervals, are 
related in a continued and uninterrupted series by the 
author, intent only on delivering to posterity memorable 
events, and sublime instruction ; and neglecting every 
particular not immediately conducive to this design 9 . 
It must likewise be observed, that the verity of the 
book is not invalidated by the allegorical manner in 
which some things are related. Human events are 
literally described ; but the proceedings of Providence, 
of which we are unable to form any apprehension, unless 
from figurative illustration, are perhaps here, as in other 
parts of Scripture \ parabolically represented under fa- 
miliar allusions. Thus are " the sons of God," or the 
obedient angels, described as appearing before the pre- 
sence of the Lord, as at the tribunal of an earthly 
judge ; so also the discourse and agency of Satan are 
indirectly shadowed out, in a manner agreeable to the 
mode of human intercourse ; in order to accommodate 
to our conceptions, what would otherwise be utterly 
unintelligible. The government of God, in permitting, 
and in restricting the temptations of the faithful, is not 
immediately referrible to our senses ; though his justice 
and mercy may be obliquely intimated by familiar alle- 

9 The calamities of Job succeeded each other with a miraculous 
rapidity. His friends might have literally observed seven days' 
silence in ashes, from respect to his affliction. The artificial regu- 
larity which the learned Michaelis conceives to exist in the numbers 
mentioned in this book, does not appear really to obtain ; except 
that when Job's possessions are said to have been doubled, they are 
enumerated by an interesting periphrasis. Compare chap. i. 3. and 
xlii. 12. 

1 Gen. xxviii. 12. Isa. vi. 1 Kings xxii. 19 — 22. Zech. iii. 1. 
Rev. xii. 



232 OF THE BOOK OF JOB. 

gory 2 . The interlocutory parts of the book should be 
considered also as descriptive of real discourse, at least 
as to substance. They are conducted with every ap- 
pearance of probability, and the passions of the speakers 
seem to kindle as they proceed. There is, also, no suf- 
ficient reason why we should not suppose God (whose 
decision of this important controversy had been ear- 
nestly desired 3 ,) to have actually spoken by Himself or 
his angel out of the whirlwind 4 ; though some writers 
have chosen to consider the introduction of the Deity 
as a prophetic vision, represented to Job and his friends 
in a trance. This account, then, of the suffering and 
restoration of Job, must be admitted as a real and 
authentic history ; no where, perhaps, allegorical, ex- 
cept in those parts which revealed the agency of supe- 
rior beings. 

The origin of Job is uncertain 5 . There is an appen- 
dix annexed to the Greek, Arabic, and Vulgate versions 
of the book, said to be taken from the ancient Syriac, 
which represents Job to have been the son of Zerah, a 
descendant of Esau ; and which relates that he reigned 

2 Le Clerc. in Loc. Codurc. Praef. in Job. Pfeiffer Dub. Vex. 
Cent. iii. loc. 31. 

:1 Chap. x. 2. xii. 5. xiii. 3. 21, 22. 24. 

4 The Chaldee Paraphrast, taking the word whirlwind in a meta- 
phorical sense, renders it improperly " out of the whirlwind of grief:" 
as if God had suggested to Job, amidst the conflict of his sorrows, 
the following thoughts. See 1 Kings xix. 11 — 13. a similar repre- 
sentation. 

5 Sixt. Senen. Bib. lib. i. and a translation of this Appendix in 
Wall's Critical Notes. Vid. also Athan. Synops. Chrysost. de 
Patient, horn. ii. Aristseas, Philo, Polyhistor. Euseb. Praep. lib. ix. 
cap. xxv. p. 450. August, de Civit. Dei, lib. xviii. cap. xlvii. 
p. 530. 



OF THE BOOK OF JOB. 233 

in the land of Ausis, upon the borders of Idumgea and 
Arabia ; and upon this authority many ancient writers, 
and most of the fathers, concur in supposing that he 
was the same with Jobab, the son of Zerah, mentioned 
in Genesis 6 ; but as this addition is not found in the 
Hebrew copies it is considered as spurious ; and the 
learned Spanheim has, upon very strong grounds, en- 
deavoured to prove, that Job, who is the subject of this 
history, was a very different person from the son of 
Zerah ; and derived his origin from Uz, the son of 
Nahor, brother to Abraham 7 ; or from Abraham him- 
self, by Keturah 8 . We may assent, likewise, to the 
opinion of Bishop Lowth, that Job dwelt in that part 
of Arabia Petrsea which was called Edom 9 , and bor- 



6 Gen. xxxvi. 53. 1 Cliron. i. 44. Spanheim in Job, ch. iv. 
Mercer. Pineda, &c. There is likewise in Greek a discourse of 
Job's wife, which is generally rejected as apocryphal. Vid. Origen. 
ad African. Hieron. Praef. in Dan. et in Job. et in Quest. Heb. in 
Gen. Chrysos. Polych. Olymp. Procem. et ad Caten. in Job. Some 
have imagined that Job's wife was Dinah, the daughter of Jacob. 
She is called Rachman by the Arabs ; and is supposed by them to 
have been the daughter of Ephraim ; or according to others, of 
Machir, the son of Manasseh. Vid. Sale's notes in Koran. She 
was probably of the country and religion of Job, though censured by 
him upon one occasion, as having spoken foolishly. Vid. Wesley's 
Dissert. XXVI. 

7 Hieron. Quest. Hebr. in Gen. Spanheim, Hist. Job, cap. iv. 
Bochart, &c. 

8 A family claiming descent from Abraham, called Beni Keturah, 
is reported still to exist at Bussor. See Wolffius. 

6 Uz was Edom. Vid. Lament, iv. 21. Numb, xxxiv. 3. Josh 
xv. 12. Jerem. xxv. 20. Lowth's Prael. Poet, xxxii. and notes. 
Wesley's Diss. XXIX. Hodges conceives Job and his friends to 
have lived somewhere between Chaldaea and Judaea. Some place 
him in Arabia Deserta. Vitringa, Observat. Sacr. c. iv. p. 39. torn. i. 



234 OF THE BOOK OF JOB. 

dered upon the tribe of Judah to the South : being 
situated between Egypt and the land of the Philistines : 
and we may suppose that his friends inhabited the 
country immediately adjacent. 

Job does not appear to have been a sovereign \ 
though styled the greatest man of the East, with re- 
spect to his possessions. He and his friends were, 
however, persons of considerable rank and importance, 
as may be collected from various circumstances inci- 
dentally mentioned in the course of his history. If 
they were not directly descended from Abraham, they 
must be classed among those, who, out of the family of 
Israel, worshipped God in sincerity and truth. The 
exact period in which they existed, cannot be deter- 
mined. Without descending to minute enquiries on 
the subject 2 , we may remark, that they appear to have 
lived some time during the servitude of the Israelites 

edit. Amstel. 1727. All the country between Egypt and the 
Euphrates was called East, with respect to Egypt ; and the Jews 
who there adopted the expression, afterwards used it absolutely 
without reference to their change of situation. Vid. Mede, fol. p. 
467. and Matt. ii. 1. If Moses were the author of this part, he 
might, in Midian, which is to the West, properly call Edom the 
South. 

1 The crown mentioned in xix. 9. is only a figurative expression 
for prosperity. Job and his friends are in the Greek called sove- 
reigns ; that is, great men. 

2 Some Talmudists have asserted, that Job was born in the very 
year of Jacob's descent into Egypt, and that he died in the year of 
the Exodus ; a conceit founded on a supposition, that as the camels 
and oxen were restored twofold to Job, so the years of his life were 
doubled ; and that, as he lived 140 years after his affliction, he lived 
seventy years before it. Vid. Bava Bathra. The Rabbins suppose 
that Moses alludes to the death of Job when he says of the Gentiles, 
that " their defence is departed from them." Vid. Numb. xiv. 9. 

3 



OF THE BOOK OF JOB. 235 

in Egypt : and that the period of their history may be 
supposed to intervene between the death of Joseph and 
the departure from Egypt 3 ; which includes a space of 
about 140 or 145 years; in which case Job might be 
six or seven generations removed from Nahor. And 
since he survived his restoration to prosperity 140 
years, he may have lived at least during part of the 
time that the Israelites wandered in the wilderness 4 . 
As the age of man in that period did not usually exceed 
200 or 220 years 5 , Job was probably overwhelmed in 
calamities in the prime and vigour of his life : when if 
possessed of the greatest fortitude to sustain his afflic- 
tions, he was also endued with the liveliest sensibility 
to feel them. How long his sufferings may have lasted 
is uncertain ; the seven years for which some contend, 
would have been a longer period than can be admitted. 
It required not such a continuance of time to demon- 
strate his faith and unshaken confidence ; and God 
delights not in unnecessary severity 6 . But from a 
consideration of particulars, it will be evident that less 
than a year cannot be assigned for the duration of his 
distress ; and this is agreeable to the general Hebrew 
calculations. 

In deciding upon the period which we ascribe to Job 
and his friends, we suppose them to have flourished 
before, or about the time of Moses ; and the sentiments 
and religious opinions which are maintained in their 

3 Spanheim Hist. Job, cap. vi. p. 106. 

4 Grot. Praef. Diodat. Argum. in Job. 

1 Few of Job's supposed contemporaries lived to so great a length 
of years ; but Job was blessed with a long life. He is by some 
stated to have died about a.m. 2449. 

6 Lament, ii. 33. 



236 OF THE BOOK OF JOB. 

discourse, are in general such as were consistent with 
the information that obtained before the Mosaic dis- 
pensation 7 . Job appears to have worshipped God in 
the manner of the Patriarchs, before the priesthood 
was confined to Aaron ; and in the detail of his piety, 
he affords a transcript of those primitive principles 
which he might have derived from Abraham and 
Nahor. He and his friends seem to have been ac- 
quainted with the precepts of traditional religion 8 , as 
collected from occasional revelations to the Patriarchs ; 
together with the deductions of that conscience which 
was " a Law to the Gentiles 9 ." But it must also be 
observed, that they sometimes displayed a greater 
knowledge of important truths than was consistent 
with the general notions that must have prevailed in 
their time. All of Abraham's descendants, indeed, 
who were contemporary with Job, may be supposed to 
have been acquainted with the attributes of God ; and 
with the use of sacrifice *. They might, from tradition, 
have collected some knowledge of the fall of Angels 2 ; 
of the creation from the dust by the breath of the 
Almighty 3 ; of original sin and its effects 4 ; of the 
flood 5 ; the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah 6 ; 
and even of a promised Messiah 7 . Yet still there will 

7 When Elihu reckons up the modes of revelation, he takes no 
account of the Mosaic. 

8 Peter's Critical Dissert, on Job, p. 151. 

9 Rom. ii. 14. and Tertull. cap. ii. 

1 Chap. xlii. 8. 2 Chap. iv. 18. 3 Chap, xxxiii. 4. 

4 Chap. xii. 16. xiv. 4. xv. 14. xxv. 4. xxvi. 13. xxxi. 33. 
x. 9. compare with Gen. iii. 19. 

5 Chap. xxii. 15, 16. 6 Chap. xxii. 20. 
7 Chap. xix. 25. xxxiii. 23—30. 



OF THE BOOK OF JOB. 237 

remain some particulars of which the) 7 were apprized, 
that appear to be above the general information which 
the Gentiles possessed ; and, therefore, we may assent 
to an opinion which is maintained by many, both 
Jewish and Christian writers s , that Job and his friends 
were enlightened by a prophetic spirit : as certainly 
some few persons among the Gentiles were 9 ; and the 
conviction that Job was to be considered as a patriar- 
chal prophet, was probably the inducement, which in- 
fluenced the Jews to admit his work into the canon of 
their scripture, if we suppose it to have been written 
by himself; and not to have been compiled by an 
inspired author of their own nation. 

Job and his friends were unquestionably distinguished 
by extraordinary marks of God's countenance ; and we 
are authorized by the book to consider them as some- 
times favoured by divine revelations. Eliphaz received 
instruction " from the visions of the night 1 ," and heard 
the voice of a spirit in secret whispers, like the " still 
small voice" which Elijah heard 2 . Elihu also felt a 
Divine power 3 ;" but Job himself appears to have been 

8 Patrick's Appendix to his Paraphrase. Job is styled by St. 
Augustin " Eximius Prophetarum." 

9 As Balaam, whom the Jews conceived to have been the same 
person with Elihu. 

1 Job iv. 13. 16. Hence R. Sol. Jarchi was led to remark, that 
the Shechinah was upon Eliphaz. 

2 1 Kings xix. 12. 

3 Chap, xxxiii. 8. 18. xxxiii. 15, 16. The name of Elihu, which 
signifies, " He is my God," and other circumstances, have led some 
writers to consider him as a representative of the Messiah ; Elihu is 
not censured as Job's three friends are, chap. xlii. 7 — 9. In chap, 
xl. 4, 5, and in chap. xlii. 1. 6. Job seems to plead guilty to what 
Elihu had objected to him. See chap, xxiii. 9, 10 ; xxxiv. 5, 6. 



238 OF THE BOOK OF JOB. 

invested with peculiar dignity ; and to have possessed 
pre-eminent claims to be regarded as a Gentile prophet. 
God spoke to him " out of the whirlwind 4 ;" and it has 
been supposed, from the fifth verse of the forty-second 
chapter, that he beheld the manifestation of the DiviDe 
presence, possibly, in a glorious cloud, for so the Se- 
venty understood it. He undoubtedly, in many places, 
speaks by the suggestion of the Holy Spirit ; and ex- 
presses himself concerning the doctrine of gratuitous 
justification 5 , and of a future state, with a clearness 
and information that were evidently the result of pro- 
phetic apprehension. We cannot, indeed, attribute 
the precise and emphatic declaration contained in the 
nineteenth chapter, to anything but to the effect of 
immediate revelation from God ; and must, agreeably 
to the opinion of the most judicious writers, ancient 
and modern, consider it as an evident profession of faith 
in a Redeemer 6 , and of entire confidence in a resurrec- 
tion and future judgment 7 . 

In chap, xxxiii. 23, 24. Elihu also speaks in a remarkable manner 
with respect to a messenger or teacher. 

4 So the Spirit descended on the apostles at the feast of Pentecost, 
" suddenly with a rushing mighty wind." Acts ii. 2. 

5 Chap. ix. 2, 3. xiv. 4. xxv. 4. Hodge's inquiry into the design 
of the Book of Job. 

6 It is not necessary, from this expression, to conclude that the 
whole mystery of the redemption was revealed to Job ; but only that 
he entertained a consolatory assurance of some future personage, 
who should appear to deliver mankind from the curse of Adam, and 
to judge the world in righteousness 

7 Chap. xix. 25 — 29. Some commentators, it is true, consider 
this passage as expressive of Job's confidence only in a present re- 
storation ; which is to restrict the expressions, in a most unautho- 
rized manner, and to interpret Scripture upon preconceived notions. 
Patrick supposes this temporal restoration to be typical of a future 



OF THE BOOK OF JOB. 239 

Having observed thus much with respect to the 
period in which Job may be supposed to have lived, it 

resurrection. He professes to follow St. Jerom's authority ; but in 
the place alluded to, St. Jerom (or the author of the commentaries 
under his name) does not confine the words to a figurative predic- 
tion. He says, absolutely, that Job in this passage, " resurrec- 
tionem futuram prophetat in spiritu," prophecies in the spirit the 
future resurrection. And though, in other places, St. Jerom admits, 
with all writers, a double sense of Scripture, it by no means follows 
that he does so in this place ; where, indeed, only a single sense 
could be intended, for Job had uniformly declared his despondence 
as to the present life St. Jerom, likewise, in his Epistle to Pauli- 
nus, affirms, that Job here prophesies the resurrection of the body 
in terms as clear and exact as ever were used. " Resurrectionem 
corporum sic prophetat ut nullus de ea, vel manifestius, vel cautius 
scripserit." Epist. 50. 2. ad Paulinum, p. 572. Vid. also, Epist. 
38. ad Pammach. p. 324. vol. iv. edit. Paris, 1706. This remark- 
able passage is supposed by the Jews to relate to the restoration of 
happiness in a future life ; and certainly it contains a manifest and 
direct prophecy of the future resurrection of the body, and of the 
coming of Christ to judge the earth ; as the solemnity of the in- 
troduction, the tenor of Job's discourse worked up to its highest 
pitch, the replies of his friends, and every expression (as faithfully 
translated in our Bible) demonstrate. We cannot restrict the pro- 
phecy to a confidence in a temporal restoration, without abrogating 
the obvious sense of the words ; and without considering them as 
utterly extravagant and unmeaning. Wherefore should " they be 
graven with an iron pen, and with lead, in the rock for ever?" How, 
" after worms should have destroyed his body," could Job " see God 
in the flesh," except in a future life ? Why, lastly, did he mention 
that his " Redeemer should stand at the latter day upon the earth," 
and that " his own eyes should behold him," unless to declare his 
assurance of a future resurrection and judgment ? To the unexam- 
pled misery of Job, and through him to the rest of mankind, in a work 
to be admitted into the canon of Scripture, God might vouchsafe the 
first explicit revelation of a future retributive judgment ; and the first 
distinct view of a spiritual Redeemer. See xiii. 15. and Peters's 
Critic. Dissert, on Job. 



240 OF THE BOOK OF JOB. 

may with more facility be considered at what time, and 
by whom his history should seem likely to have been 
written. Upon this subject, it is not necessary to enter 
into an examination of the various arguments produced 
by different authors, in support of their several opi- 
nions ; but it may be observed, that some have con- 
ceived the book to be the production of Job 8 himself; 
or of Elihu 9 ; while many have attributed it to Moses l ; 
and others to later prophets, as to Solomon 2 ; and to 
Isaiah 3 . The most probable opinion is, that it was 
composed from such memorials as Job himself, or his 
friends, might have left in the Syriac or Arabic lan- 
guage. The work is written in a style agreeable to the 
genius of the Arabic language. It is sublime, lofty, 
compressed, and full of figures and allusive images. 
It contains, likewise, much of that profound philosophy, 
and elevated turn of thought, for which the Arabians 
were as remarkable 4 , as for the dignity and allegorical 
cast of their language. It may be added, likewise, that 

8 Origen, cont. Cels. lib. vi. et Anonymi, in Job, lib. prim, apud 
Origen, torn. ii. p. 851. edit. Par. 1733. Gregor. Mag. in Job, lib, 
i. cap. i. p. 15. edit. Antverp. 1515. Suidas in Job, Isidor. Hisp. 
Sixt. Senens. Hottinger, Walton, Bochart, Huetius, &c. 

9 Lightfoot supposes Elihu to have been the author, because, in 
the beginning of his discourse, he appears to speak in that character ; 
but he is only introduced, as are the other friends, in the first per- 
son, for the sake of ornament. Chap, xxxii. 14, &c. 

1 Bava Bathra, cap. 1. f. 15. Kimchi, Methodius apud Photium. 
R. Levi Ben. Gerson in Praef. Aben-Ezra ad cap. ii. 1 1. Huet. De- 
monst. Evan. Prop. iv. in Job, p. 177. Epist. ad Paul, p. 572. 

2 As did Gregory Nazianzen, Luther, &c. Huet. Prop. iv. Orat. 
ad Exsequat. Harduin in Chron. V. Test. 

3 Philo Codercus. Praef. in Job. Scaliger. Grotius. Le Clerc. 
Warburton attributes it to Ezra ; and Garnett to Ezekiel. 

* 1 Kings iv. 30. Jerem. xlix. 7. Obad. ver. viii. Baruch iii. 13. 



OF THE BOOK OF JOB. 241 

some of the images and remarks in this book appear to 
have been drawn from circumstances peculiar and 
appropriate to Arabia s ; and that it has every charac- 
teristic of the most venerable antiquity, and all the 
appearance of an original patriarchal work 6 . 

That the book is drawn up in a poetical form, and 
adorned with poetical embellishments, is no proof that 
it was not written in great part by Job ; for though 
it be inconsistent with the violence of outrageous 
passion, or the freedom of animated dialogue, to 
speak in numbers, or measured language ; yet there is 
no reason why Job may not be supposed to have 
amused himself, when restored to ease and prosperity, 
by recollecting the circumstances of his affliction ; and 
to have described them with metrical arrangement ; 
it being customary in the earlier ages to compose the 

5 Chap. vi. 15 — 17. xxxvii. 9. 22. Vid. also, chap. ix. 26. 
where Schultens translates the word DVJtt, by " naves papyro vel 
arundine textas ;" and supposes it to signify those vessels made of 
cane, or the papyrus, that were used on the Nile. Vid. Lucan. lib. 
iv. 1. 135, 136. 

6 Grey's Pref. to Job. Origen cont. Cels. lib. vi. § 41. p. 665. 
Edit. Paris, 1733. Euseb. and Selden de jur. nat. etgent. lib. iii. 
p. 349. See also, lib. vii. cap. xi. p. 747 — 50. Hottinger Smegma 
Orient Job mentions only the most ancient species of idolatry, the 
worship of the sun and moon. Vid. chap. xxxi. 26, 27. and the 
most ancient kind of writing, by sculpture. His riches are reckoned 
by his cattle : and it is by no means clear, that the word Kesitah, 
translated a piece of money, chap, xliii. 11. does not mean a lamb. 
Vid. Spanheim, and Calmet in Gen. xxxiii. 19. Or, if it mean 
money, there is no reason to suppose that it might not be in use in 
the time and country assigned to Job. Compare also, chap. xlii. 8. 
with Numb, xxiii. 1. Bp. Lowth considers the style as bearing evi- 
dent marks of the most remote antiquity. Vid. Praelect. 32. 

R 



242 OF THE BOOK OF JOB. 

most important works in some kind of measure 7 . It 
is consistent, also, with our notions of inspiration, to 
suppose that its suggestions might be conveyed in the 
captivating dress of poetry. 

How far Job reduced the work towards its present 
form, cannot be determined ; it is contended only, that 
he left sufficient materials for some Hebrew writer to 
digest it as it now appears. As the Hebrew and Arabic 
language are derived from the same origin, both being 
deduced from Abraham's descendants, among whom 
the Hebrew was preserved, and the Arabic originated, 
they may well be supposed to approximate towards 
their source, and to have much resembled each other ; 
as, indeed, they now do, with great affinity 8 . It is, 
therefore, possible that Job might have written the 
book in the language in which it now exists 9 ; the last 
verses only being added by some prophet, who received 
it into the Jewish canon *. But if we conceive that 

7 Isidore Orig. lib. i. 27. 8 Hunt's Clavis Pentateuchi. 

9 All the descendants of Abraham, the Israelites, Idumseans, and 
Arabs, probably continued long to use the same language, till sepa- 
ration and gradual innovations produced a change. The names of 
Ishmael's, Keturah's, Esau's, and Job's families, are pure Hebrew. 
See Sir William Jones's eighth Anniversary Discourse, in vol. iii. of 
Asiatic Researches. 

1 It is uncertain when the book was received into the canon. 
Some think that it was admitted with Solomon's writings by the men 
of Hezekiah : but probably it was inserted much earlier. In the 
Hebrew, it follows immediately after the Proverbs ; but in the Sep- 
tuagint, and by St. Jerom, it was placed as in our Bibles. Peters 
suggests, that it might have been presented to Solomon by the queen 
of Sheba : and Wesley, on a conjecture as slender, fancies that it 
might have been procured by Elimelech and Naomi, when in Moab, 
which was in Idumaea, and near the spot where he conceives Job to 



OF THE BOOK OF JOB. 243 

the Hebrew language differed so much from the Arabic, 
in the time of Job, that what he wrote must have been 
translated for the use of the Hebrews, we may suppose 
it to have been effected by some inspired writer among 
the Hebrews ; who retained those Syriac and Arabic 
expressions which are interspersed through the work, 
as appropriate ornaments of the history, and as tending, 
perhaps, to facilitate the versification. Some critics, 
indeed, consider these expressions as foreign corrup- 
tions introduced into the Jewish language after the 
captivity ; and therefore imagine that the work must 
have been composed after those of David and Solomon ; 
but what they consider as Chaldaisms, are by others, 
with more probability, represented to be only Syriac and 
Arabic expressions 2 . 

The book then was probably either written by Job, 
or composed from materials which he left, by some 
writer who lived soon after the period of the history 
herein described. They who dispute this antiquity 
maintain, that besides the pretended Chaldaisms which 
have been before observed rather to have been Arabic 
and Syriac expressions, they discover some passages in 
the book which are imitations of particulars in the 
works of David and of Solomon ; but if the coinci- 
dences produced in support of this assertion be not 
accidental, they do not prove that the passages were 

have lived. It was, however, doubtless received before the time of 
Ezekiel. Vid. Ezek. xiv. 14. Mercerus, in proverbia. 

2 Schultens. Grey's Job, p. 12. It has been disputed whether the 
names of Job's daughters are of Hebrew or Arabic extraction. But 
as both languages have the same root, the dispute is idle. The 
word Jehovah, which was known only to the Jews, might have been 
applied to the Deity by the compiler or translator. 

R 2 



244 OF THE BOOK OF JOB. 

copied by Job ; since there is equal reason to suppose 
that David and Solomon might have borrowed from 
him, as other prophets certainly did 3 • such imitations of 
expressions for the communication of similar sentiments 
being customary among the sacred writers. 

If, however, we admit, as some have contended, that 
the book contains allusions to the Mosaic laws, and 
also to circumstances and events of the Jewish history ; 
and that these allusions are not merely such as refer to 
particulars with which Job might have been acquainted 4 , 
if contemporary with the servitude of the Israelites in 
Egypt, or with their sojourning in the wilderness ; nor 
consist in expressions which Moses, if the compiler or 
translator of the book, might have introduced 5 , sup- 
posing him to have written it after the delivery of the 

3 Huetius, Prop. iv. passim. 

4 The sentiments in chap. xvii. 5. xxi. 19. xxii. 6. xxiv. 7. 9, 10. 
and xxxi. 9, 10. 28. produced by Warburton, and others, as allu- 
sions to the law, which escaped the author, might surely be general 
remarks. All the supposed references to the flood, and other par- 
ticulars described in Genesis, only prove that Job was acquainted 
with those traditions which the descendants of Abraham must have 
known, without the Mosaic account. Job, if we place him a little 
later, might have heard, likewise, of the miracles in Egypt, and at 
the Red Sea, if we suppose him to allude to them in chap, xxxviii. 
15. ix. 7, 8. xii. 15. xxvi. 12. as likewise of the wandering of the 
Israelites in the wilderness, and of some other contemporary events, 
at which he is imagined (though perhaps without sufficient reason) to 
hint. Vid. chap. xii. 24. xxxi. 24. xxix. 25. The passage which 
has been thought to allude to the sun standing still (compare ix. 7. 
with Joshua x. 12.) is not so distinct as to authorise any positive 
conclusion. 

5 The expressions in chap. xx. 17. xxii. 22, xxix. 14. xv. 17, 18. 
might be general, or introduced by Moses. The nineteenth verse 
of the fifteenth chapter may apply to Noah and his sons. Vid. Peters's 
Dissert, on Job, part i. § 2. 



OF THE BOOK OF JOB. 245 

law ; such allusions, though they cannot be allowed to 
invalidate the antiquity which is here attributed to Job 
himself, or to disprove that he might have furnished 
the chief materials for the work, certainly will prove 
that it was composed in its present form, long after the 
period in which the history must have occurred ; and 
that it was written or translated by an author later 
than Moses. As a matter of opinion, however, it may 
be observed, that no such allusions do appear as should 
influence us to reject the pretensions of Job, or of 
Moses 6 ; none certainly that should incline us to be- 
lieve that the book was not written long before the 
captivity 7 ; since of the alleged allusions to the regal 
history of the Jews, none are so evident as to justify 
any conclusion to the contrary ; and there appears, in- 

6 Huet. Prop. iv. in Job. 

7 The passage in chap, xxxiii. 15 — 26. has been imagined to 
be descriptive of God's proceedings with Hezekiah, 2 Kings xx. 
2 Chron. xxxii. as that in chap. xxxv. 8. 12. has been supposed to 
coincide with the account of the punishment of Manasseh, 2 Chron. 
xxxiii. 11 — 13. So, likewise, the denunciation in chap, xxxiv. 20. 
has been represented as allusive to the sudden destruction of Sen- 
nacherib's army, 2 Kings xix. 35. But these passages of Job con- 
tain only general descriptions of God's judgments, that might easily 
be drawn to apply to any instance ; and the last might rather be 
supposed to refer to the destruction of the first-born in Egypt, Exod. 
xii. 29. The pretended resemblance between the writing of Heze- 
kiah, Isa. xxxviii. 10 — 17. and the lamentation of Job, chap. vii. 
1 — 8. is only a casual similarity in the complaints of misery. It 
must have been the true spirit of theory that could draw any argu- 
ment from a comparison between the description of Job's friends, ch. 
xxx. 1 — 8. and the account of the Cutheans and Samaritans in Ne- 
hem. iv. 1 — 4. or that could fancy that the representation of Satan's 
appearance, Job i. 6, &c. was designed on the model of Zachariah's 
vision, Zech. iii. 1 — 5. See other resemblances as fanciful or acci- 
dental, in Warburton's and Garnett's allegories. 



246 OF THE BOOK OF JOB. 

deed, to be no sufficient reason, notwithstanding every 
passage has been critically analysed for that purpose, to 
suppose that the book was not written or translated 
nearer the period of the history which it describes. 

The opinion, indeed, most anciently and generally 
entertained was, that it was composed by Moses ; who 
might have collected the information which it contained 
in the land of Midian 8 ; and no objection to this opinion 
can be drawn from the place which is assigned to the 
book in the Bible, as no accurate attention appears to 
have been paid to chronology in this arrangement. 

The book, however, whether written originally in the 
Arabic or in the Hebrew language ; whether composed 
or translated by Moses, or any subsequent prophet, is 
unquestionably to be considered as an inspired produc- 
tion, since it was certainly in the Jewish canon. The 
work is not, indeed, particularly mentioned by Jo- 
seph us : because the history which it contains was 
totally unconnected with the Hebrew affairs, as re- 
corded in the Hebrew language, of which he professed 
exclusively to treat 9 . It must, however, be supposed 
to have been included in the catalogue of twenty-two 

8 Origen cont. Cels. lib. vi. and in Job. Some have conceived 
that Moses produced it to console the Israelites under the hardships 
of their Egyptian bondage. Vid. Origen Com. Bava Bathra, cap. i. 
Julian Halicar. ap. Nicset. The book contains some passages which 
resemble the hymn of Moses. Compare chap. xxix. 2 — 6. with 
Deut. xxxii. 7 — 14. Grey's Prsef. ad Lib. Job, and Answer to 
Warburton. But if Moses was the author, he probably wrote it in 
the wilderness. No argument can be drawn from the supposed re- 
semblance, or difference of style between the Book of Job, and the 
writings of Moses, as the subject affords such scope for fancy, and 
such opposite opinions have been entertained upon it. 

9 Procem. Antiq. Jud. et Vit. Joseph. 



OF THE BOOK OF JOB. 247 

books, which he assigned as the number contained in 
the sacred list 1 . And it is cited as scriptural by the 
apostles 2 ; and was universally received as canonical by 
all the fathers, councils, and Churches 3 . 

Though the Book of Job is by no means to be con- 
sidered as a drama written with fictitious contrivance ; 
or as resembling in its construction any of those Gre- 
cian compositions which it preceded so long ; it may 
still be represented as so far dramatic, as the parties 
are introduced speaking with great fidelity of charac- 
ter ; and as it deviates from strict historical accuracy 
for the sake of effect. It is a complete, though pecu- 
liar work : regular in its subject and in the distribution 
of its parts 4 . Locke justly pronounces it to be a 
perfect poem : the first two chapters containing a prose 
argument, which he conceives (though without sufficient 
reason) to have been added by the compiler ; as also 
the naming of the several speakers ; the want of which 
leaves the Canticles in great obscurity. The interlo- 
cutory parts of the book appear to be written in a 
loose kind of metre. Many of Job's discourses are 
strict and perfect elegies 5 . St. Jerom maintains that 
the book is composed from the third verse of the 
third chapter to the sixth verse of the forty-second 
chapter, in hexameter verses, with some occasional 
variations, according to the idiom of the language 6 . 

1 Joseph, cont. Apion. lib. i. § viii. p. 1333. 

2 1 Cor. iii. 19. James v. 11. Compare ch. v. 13. also, ch. v. 
17. with Hebrews xii. 5. 

3 Gregor. Mag. Praef. in Job. 

4 Lowth's Prsel. Poet, xxxiii. 

5 Chap. iii. vi. vii. x. xii. xvii. xix. xxix. xxx. 

6 Lowth's Praelect. xiv. and Shuckibrd's Connect, vol. ii. chap. ix. 
Hieron. Prsef. in Lib. Job. 



248 OF THE BOOK OF JOB. 

Of this, however, there are no sufficient indications. 
The conclusion, which relates the final prosperity and 
death of Job, must have been added by the compiler. 

The many excellent qualities of Job have deservedly 
rendered him, to all ages, an illustrious example of 
righteousness. Eusebius has justly remarked, that he 
was so distinguished for wisdom, as to have found out, 
by Divine grace, a conduct not unsuitable to the evan- 
gelical doctrine of our Saviour; and it appears from 
the passage, which in some copies of the Septuagint is 
annexed to this book 7 , that the reverence which the 
Jews entertained for his character, had given rise to a 
tradition, by no means incredible, according to the opi- 
nion of Theophanes, that Job was one of those saints 
who rose out from their graves at the resurrection of 
Christ ; a tradition which, if unsupported by any au- 
thority, may be still considered as bearing a merited 
testimony to his superior righteousness 8 . 

To form a perfect notion of the great excellence of 
Job's character, we must contemplate him in every 
vicissitude of his eventful life ; and consider his conduct 
under every temptation of hazardous prosperity, or 
aggravating distress. We must judge of him, not from 
the unguarded expressions which his sufferings occa- 

7 The addition in the Septuagint, and to Theodotion's version, runs 
thus : — TiypaTCTdi de. avrov ttoXlv avaffrriaevdai, /zefl' wv 6 KvpwQ 
aviaT-qmv. Vid. Septuagint, Job, chap. xlii. 17. edit. 1831. The 
author of which must have believed that Job describes his assurance 
of a future resurrection in this book, as particularly in the contested 
passage ; for where else in the Old Testament is it written that Job 
should rise again ? Origen Epist. ad African, p. 15. 

8 The Book of Job, it is said, was read in the ancient church on 
fast days, and at Easter : Job being considered as a figure of Christ. 
Vid. Origen in Job. 



OF THE BOOK OF JOB. 249 

sionally provoked 9 , but from the deliberate strains of 
his piety, and his patient submission to the Divine will 
under every possible affliction but the pangs of guilt 
and the terrors of despair. If the mistaken severity of 
his friends sometimes provoked him in the fervour of 
controversy, to transgress the decency of an humble 
and modest doubt of his own innocence, yet reproof 
and recollection instantly called him to a confession of 
un worthiness, and to a becoming resignation to the 
Divine decrees 1 . It was, indeed, in vindication of his 
own character that he displayed the fair description of 
his life : eminently distinguished as it was for integrity 
and benevolence ; and it has been a want of sufficient 
attention to the scope of the dialogue, and to the firm 
principles to which Job, notwithstanding his occasional 
impatience, ultimately adheres, that has caused such 
strange misconceptions as have been entertained with 
respect to his character 2 and discourse. 

To obviate, however, all erroneous objections to an 
example which the sacred writers have considered as 
excellent 3 ; and to preclude false notions concerning 
sentiments represented as consistent with the Divine 
wisdom \ it is necessary to advert to the provocations 
which Job received, and to the complicated distress 
that disconcerted his mind, and irritated his passions. 
His friends, who appear to have visited him with charit- 

9 Chap. vi. 26. 

1 Chap. viii. 20. xxxiv. 31, 32. xl. 4. 6. xlii. 3, 4. 

2 Garnett and Warburton. 

3 Ezek. xiv. 14. James v. 11. Vid. also Tobit ii. 12. ver. 15. 
Vulgate. 

4 Chrysost. Horn. v. ad Pop. Antioch. torn. ii. p. 51. 



250 OF THE BOOK OF JOB. 

able intentions 5 , did in reality only aggravate his mis- 
fortunes ; for having taken up a common, but mistaken 
notion, that prosperity and afflictions were dealt out in 
this life according to the deserts of men 6 , they accuse 
him of having merited his extraordinary misfortunes by 
some concealed guilt 7 ; and are led on by the heat 
of contention " to vex his soul by their reproaches, 
and to break him in pieces with words." Job, solicitous 
to refute the charge, and to vindicate the ways of Pro- 
vidence, affirms, on the contrary, that adversity is no 
proof of Divine wrath, but often designed as a trial 8 : 
that in this life the good and the bad indiscriminately 
flourish, and often perish in promiscuous destruction 9 ; 
though intimations of displeasure are sometimes given 
by God, and warnings of wrath to them and their 
children ; and that, consequently, there must be some 
period for judgment and equal retribution, for which 
the wicked are reserved 1 . With respect to himself, 
though he admits the frailty and corruption of his 
nature, yet he disclaims all particular ground of fear 
from reflecting on his past conduct, appealing to the 
tribunal of Divine justice; and then describes with 
somewhat too much of pride and confidence, the ex- 



5 Chap. ii. 11—13. 6 Chap. iv. 7, 8. 

7 Chap. iv. 7 — 9. viii. 13. xviii. 21. xxii. 5. 

8 Chap. ix. 22, 23. From this and other similar passages might 
perhaps be deduced an argument that Job was not acquainted with 
the temporal promises annexed to the Mosaic Law, however his 
reasoning, maturely considered, may be consistent with them ; hence 
the propriety of strong intimations of a resurrection. 

9 Chap. ix. 22—24. xii. 6. xxi. 7—15, 16. 21. 27. 
1 Chap. xxi. 30. xxvi. G. xxvii. 8, 9. 19. xxxi. 3. 



OF THE BOOK OF JOB. 251 

cellency of those virtues, with which he had " arrayed" 
his prosperity. With a degree of impatience likewise, 
that his sufferings, great as they were, could not justify, 
he indulges in frantic and extravagant language, de- 
siring that the day might " perish wherein he was born, 
and the night and the day be cursed ;" thus showing a 
thorough despondency and disregard with respect to 
the present life ; earnestly wishes 2 for death ; and 
appeals to the decisions of a future judgment for justi- 
fication 3 . For this assumption, and for this impatience, 
he is justly censured by Elihu : his " wrath was kindled 
against Job, because he justified himself rather than 
God." And he rei^rehends him with apparent severity 
for that vindication of himself which seemed to reflect 
on the justice of the Almighty 4 . Elihu rests the 
equity of the Divine dispensations on the acknowledged 
attributes of God ; and it was probably under the in- 
fluence of his admonition that Job 5 was finally led to 
just convictions, so that God pronounces that " Job 
had spoken the thing that was right." God even 
pursues the argument of Elihu, and in a style of 

2 Chap. vi. 8—11. vii. 7. ix. 21. x. 1. xvi. 22. xvii. 11—16. 
These passages fully prove, that Job did not look forward to any- 
temporal restoration : of which he declares also the improbability, 
and laments only that he should not live to see his reputation vindi- 
cated. Vid. chap. xiv. 7 — 14. vii. 8 — 10. x. 21, 22. Peters's 
Dissert, on Job, part ii. § 4. Scott's version of Job, appendix ii. 

3 Chap. xiii. 15 — 19. xiv. 12 — 15. xvi. 19. xvii. 15. xxiii. 
3 — 10. xx vi. 6. xxx. 23, 24. xxxi. 14. all consistently with chap. 
xix. 25 — 29. 

4 Chap, xxxiii. 8, 9. xxxiv. 5. 9. 35. 

3 Some have conceived that the opening of God's speech was 
addressed as a reproof to Elihu, though the substance of the answer 
was designed for Job, 



252 OF THE BOOK OF JOB. 

inimitable majesty proclaims his own uncontrolled 
power, and unfathomable wisdom to the discountenanc- 
ing of human knowledge. After the most awful and 
impressive representation of his own glorious works 
and attributes 6 , and after some reprehension of Job, 
for his arrogant profession of innocence, the Almighty 
condemns the false reasoning of the three friends, and 
ratifies the conclusion which Job had made with respect 
to a future judgment 7 . It is very remarkable in this 
discourse, broken and renewed at intervals, that Job 
seems (chap. ix. x.) to intimate that the Almighty, in 
his elevated exemption from infirmity, might be re- 
garded as too high to judge of the temptations and 
conduct of men ; observing, that there was no " daysman" 
(or mediator) between God and man, that might lay 
his hand upon them both 8 ; thus leading on the mind 
prophetically to a Redeemer : and he expressly addresses 
himself to God, calling, as it were, for one who might 
" in all things be tempted like as we 9 ." He seems to 
feel that there was none to plead for him \ 

Such is the scope of the discourse, which finely 
unfolds God's designs in dealing out afflictions to man- 
kind 2 ; which, when it first appeared, must have con- 

6 Chap. xl. 8. 10. 

7 Job had spoken right by having recourse to the arrangements 
of a future judgment. Jf the Divine justice did not rest on this 
foundation, it must have executed its decrees in the present life, as 
the friends of Job maintained. God does not condescend to explain 
the equity of his own counsels, any farther than by approving the 
convictions of Job ; this was never questioned in the controversy, 
but defended on both sides, though on different principles. 

8 Chap. ix. 33. 9 Chap. x. 4. 1 Chap. x. 14. 

2 Job's character was fully proved and perfected by this trial, and 
the pride and impatience of his temper corrected. 



OF THE BOOK OF JOB. 253 

veyed truths that unassisted reason had not learnt ; 
and have been well calculated to refute the absurd 
notions which then began to arise concerning the two 
independent principles of good and evil 3 . When the 
book was received into the Jewish canon, it must like- 
wise have been well adapted to counteract any erroneous 
conception that might have been formed from a con- 
sideration of the temporal promises of the Law : which 
though they covenanted present reward to the Hebrew 
nation, considered as a community, by no means assured 
to individuals a full and exact remuneration in the 
present life 4 . The book also admirably serves to prove, 
that the power of temptation, allowed to evil spirits, is 
restricted, in merciful consideration of human weak- 
ness. It exhibits, in an interesting history, the vicissi- 
tudes of human affairs. It illustrates the danger of 
contention ; the ingratitude and baseness of common 
friendship 5 ; the vigilant care of Providence ; and the 
necessity of resignation to the Divine will. Through 
the whole work we discover religious instruction shining 
forth amidst the venerable simplicity of ancient manners. 
It every where abounds with the noblest sentiments of 
piety, uttered in the spirit of inspired conviction. It 
is a work unrivalled for the magnificence of its language, 
and for the beautiful and sublime images which it pre- 
sents 6 . In the wonderful speech of the Deity, every 

3 Use and intent of Prophecy, p. 207. 

1 This is evident from the relations of sacred history ; from the 
complaints of the Psalmist; and from the sufferings and denun- 
ciations of the Prophets. 

5 Job xlii. 11. 

' This book, in some of its beauties of imagery and description, 
lias been compared with, and justly preferred to, the works of Homer. 



254 OF THE BOOK OF JOB. 

line delineates his attributes, every sentence opens a 
picture of some grand object in creation 7 characterized 
by its most striking features. Add to this, that the 
prophetic parts reflect much light on the economy of 
God's moral government ; and every admirer of sacred 
antiquity, every enquirer after religious instruction, 
will seriously rejoice, that the enraptured sentence of 
Job 8 is realized in a more effectual and unforeseen ac- 
complishment : that while the memorable records of 
antiquity have mouldered from the " rock," the prophetic 
assurance and sentiments of Job are graven in Scrip- 
tures, which no time shall alter, no changes shall efface. 

Vid. Wesley's Diss. VI. ex Gnom. Homer. Jacob du Port. Burke 
on the Sublime, p. 2. § 4, 5. p. 126. 130. ed. 1792. 

7 Various have been the conjectures concerning the Behemoth, 
and the Leviathan, which are so forcibly described in this book. 
The former is by some supposed to have been the Elephant, by 
others, the Hippopotamus ; it might have been the Mammoth ; the 
latter is usually represented to have been the Crocodile. But as 
the descriptions exceed the character of all animals now known, they 
have been conceived to contain some mystery. It is one design of 
Scripture to convince mankind of ignorance ; and difficulties, while 
they exercise sagacity, inculcate the useful lesson of humility. Vid. 
Bochart Hierozoicon. lib. v. c. xv. xviii. p. 754 — 791. Pars poster. 
Ed. Lond. 1663. 

8 Chap. xix. 23. 



OF THE 



BOOK OF PSALMS 



The Book of Psalms, which in the Hebrew is entitled 
D*bnn "l£3D \ that is, the Book of Hymns, or Praises, 
contains the productions of different writers 2 . These 
productions are called, however, the Psalms of David, 
because a great part of them was composed by him, 
who for his peculiarly excellent spirit, was distinguished 
by the title of " the Psalmist 3 ." Some of them were 
perhaps penned before, and some after the time of 
David ; but all of them, it may be presumed, by per- 
sons under the influence of the Holy Ghost, since all 
were judged worthy to be inserted into the canon of 
sacred writ, and are generally cited by evangelical 

1 In the New Testament it is called by Christ and his Apostles 
Blfi\oQ xpaXptov. Luke xx. 42. Acts i. 20. The word Psalter is 
derived from i//a\r^piov, psaltery, a musical instrument, styled Nabal 
in Hebrew. It was strung and made of wood in the style of a harp, 
and in the shape of a Greek delta, A. Vid. 1 Kings x. 12. 
Athenaeus, lib. iv. cap. xxiii. et Casaubon Animadvers. in c. xxiii. 
p. 194. Edit. Casaub. 1597. and Calmet's Dissertation sur les 
instrumens de Musique, p. Hi. torn. 4. edit. Paris, 1724. 

2 Hieron. ad Cyprian, p. 694. torn. 2. edit. Paris. 1699. Gene- 
nebr. in Psal. i. R, David Kimchi. 

3 2 Sam. xxiii. 1. Joseph. Antiq. lib. vii. c. 12. p. 319. 

3 



256 OF THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 

writers as inspired. Hezekiel is said to have first made 
a compilation of them. Ezra probably collected them 
into one book, and placed them in the order which 
they now preserve, after they had been probably put 
together in part 4 . It appears that the 150 Psalms 
therein contained were selected from a much greater 
number, which, it may be presumed, were not suggested 
by the Holy Spirit. The Levites were, no doubt, em- 
ployed to keep in the temple 5 , all such hymns as might 
be composed in honour of God ; and of these, indeed, 
there must have been a large collection ; but such only 
could be admitted into the canon as were evidently in- 
spired compositions ; and we may judge of the scrupu- 
lous severity with which they were examined, since the 
numerous hymns of Solomon were rejected ; and even, 
as it is said, some of David's himself were thought un- 
entitled to insertion 6 . The authority of those, however, 
which we now possess, is established, not only by their 
rank among the sacred writings 7 , and by the unvaried 
testimony of every age, but likewise by many intrinsic 
proofs of inspiration. Not only do they breathe through 

4 2 Chron. xxix. 25 — 30. They existed in a distinct collection or 
book, and were arranged probably in the same order, long before the 
time of Christ. Vid. Luke xx. 42. The second Psalm is cited by 
St. Paul in the order in which it now stands, /Vets xiii. 33. Vid. 
Athan. in Synop. torn, ii p. 86 edit. 1627. Hilar. Prol. in lib. Psalm, 
p. 1. edit. Paris, 1693. Ezra iii. 10, 11, Euseb. ad Psal. lxxxvi. 

5 1 Chron. xvi. 2. xxv. 1 — 7. Joseph, Antiq. lib. iii. c. i. p. 98. 
See also lib. vii. c. xiv. p. 327. 

6 The prophets were not always empowered to write by the sug- 
gestion of the Spirit ; though St. Ambrose thought that David did 
always possess the gift of prophecy. Vid. Prsef. in Psalm, p. 739. 
torn. i. edit. Paris, 1686. 1 Sam. xvi. 13. 

7 They are cited as the Law. John x. 34. xii. 34. 



OF THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 257 

every part a Divine spirit of eloquence, but they con- 
tain numberless illustrious prophecies that were re- 
markably accomplished, and frequently appealed to by 
the evangelical writers. The sacred character of the 
whole book is established by the testimony of our 
Saviour and his apostles ; who in various parts of the 
New Testament appropriate the predictions of the 
Psalms as apposite to the circumstances of their lives, 
and intentionally preconcerted to describe them. Yet, 
as Dr. Allix justly remarks, though the sacred writers 
have fixed the sense of near fifty Psalms 8 , they have 
by no means cited all that they might have cited ; but 
have only holden out a key to their hearers, making 
applications incidentally as circumstances occurred. 

David has, by the later Jews, been reckoned among 
the Hagiographi 9 ; not being considered by them as a 
prophet any more than Daniel, because he lived diffe- 
rently from the prophets, and amidst the magnificence 
of a court. He was supposed, however, by them, to 
have prophesied by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, 
not from any exterior impulse, but from some internal 
influence urging, and enabling him to speak and utter 
instructions on Divine, as well as human subjects, with 
more than his wonted powers, and in a style superior to 
that of the productions of human abilities. But the 



8 New Testament, passim. 

9 R. Albo. Maam. III. c. x. Kimchi Madrash Sillim, vol. ii. 
The Jewish gradations of prophecy are often very fancifully deter- 
mined ; but David must be pronounced a prophet by the Jewish 
rule, since he is a true prophet who is not deceived in foretelling 
future events. Vid. Maimon. de Fundam. Legis, cap. x. § 2. 
Deut. xviii. 22. Jerem. xxviii. 9. Maimon. More Nevoch. par. ii. 
cap. xliv. xlv. p. 314. edit. Basil, 1629. 

S 



258 OF THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 

prophetic character of David is established on much 
higher authority, as proclaimed by the sacred writers, 
and by his express declaration that the Spirit of God 
spake by him, and that his word was on his tongue l ; 
and the importance and clearness of his predictions 
demonstrate his title to the highest rank among the 
prophets. Many attempts have been made to ascertain 
precisely which Psalms were derived from David's pen, 
and likewise to discover the authors of the others. 
Some are said to have been composed by Moses ; and 
some were written in, or after the captivity 2 . It is 
necessary to refer to the commentators at large for 
various opinions upon this subject. Without dilating 
on the date and author of each individual Psalm, or the 
circumstances that occasioned its production, it may be 
briefly observed, that the Talmudists 3 and Masoretic 
writers admit, as authors of the Psalms, Adam, Mel- 
chisedec, Abraham, Moses, the sons of Korah, David, 
Solomon, Asaph, Jeduthun, and Ethan ; and that 
Calmet, after a judicious investigation, has adopted 
nearly the following arrangement, if we consider 
them, as distributed in the Hebrew and in our trans- 
lation. 

Under the first head are twelve Psalms, of which the 
chronology is uncertain ; viz. i. iv. v. viii. xix. lxxxi. xc. 
xci. xcix. ex. exxxix. cxlv. The first of these was pro- 



1 2 Sam. xxi. 1. xxiii. 2. 2 Chrpn. xxix. 25. Nehem. xii. 24. 
Ezek. xxxiv. 23. Matt. xiii. 35. xxii. 43. xxvii. 35. Mark xii. 
36. Acts i. 16. ii. 30. iv. 25. Heb. iii. 7. 

2 Lightfoot Chron. of Old Test. Maius CEconomia Temporum, 
Vet. et Nov. Test. Hammond's, Patrick's, and Home's Commen- 
taries. 

3 Bava Bathra, cap. i. Kimchi, &c. 



OF THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 259 

bably composed by David or Ezra; the lxxxist. 4 is 
attributed to Asaph ; the xcth. to Moses ; and the 
cxth. to David. The authors of the others are un- 
known, though some of them are inscribed to David. 

Under the second head are included the Psalms 
which were composed by David during the persecution 
carried on against him by Saul, or other enemies ; these 
are in number twenty ; viz. vii. xi. xvi. xvii. xviii. 5 
xxii. xxxi. xxxiv. xxxv. lii. liv. lvi. lvii. lviii. lix. lxiv. 
cix. cxl. cxli. cxlii. 

Under the third head are placed such as David com- 
posed on different occasions, after his accession to the 
throne ; these, which amount to forty-four, are as fol- 
lows: ii. 6 vi. ix. xii. xx. xxi. xxiii. xxiv. xxviii. xxix. 
xxxii. xxxiii. xxxviii. xxxix. xl. xli. Ii. Ix. lxi. lxii. lxiii. 
lxv. lxviii. lxix. lxx. lxxxvi. xcv. xcvi. ci. ciii. civ. cv. 
cvi. cviii. cxviii. cxix. cxx. cxxi. cxxii. cxxiv. cxxxi. 
cxxxiii. cxliii. cxliv. 

The fourth head contains those which were written 
by David during the rebellion of Absalom, amounting 
to six ; which are the iiid. xlii. xliii. lv. lxxi. lxxxiv. 

The fifth head includes those written from the death 
of Absalom to the captivity ; these, which appear to 
be ten, are the xxxth. xlv. lxxii. lxxiv. lxxvi. lxxviii. 
lxxix. lxxxii. lxxxiii. cxxxii. Of these, probably, David 
composed the xxxth. the Ixxiid. and possibly the 
lxxviiith. The lxxvith. seems likely to have been 
produced after the miraculous deliverance from the 
Assyrian army, in the days of Hezekiah. 

* This was probably designed to be sung in the Temple upon the 
feast of Trumpets ; as also at the feast of Tabernacles. 
3 Compare with 2 Sam. xxii. and xxiii. 1. 
6 See Actsiv. 25. and xiii. 33. 

s2 



260 OF THE BOOK OF PSALMS, 

The sixth head comprehends the Psalms composed 
during the distresses and captivities of the church; 
these were written chiefly by Asaph and Korah, and 
their descendants. They may be reckoned thirty in 
number, and are the xth. xiii. xiv. xv. xxv. xxvi. xxviL 
xxxvi. xxxvii. xliv. xlix. 1. liii. 7 lxvii. lxxiii. lxxv. lxxvii. 
lxxx. lxxxviii. Ixxxix. xcii. xciii. xciv. cii. cxv. cxxiii, 
cxxv. cxxix. cxxx. cxxxvii. 

To the last head are assigned those hymns of joy 
and thanksgiving which were written as well after 
other deliverances as upon the release from the Baby- 
lonish captivity, and at the building and dedication of 
the temple. These, which are twenty-eight, are the 
xlvith. xivii. xlviii. Ixvi. lxxxv. lxxxvii. xcvii. xcviii. 
c. cvii. cxi. cxii. cxiii. cxiv. cxvi. cxvii. cxxvi. cxxvii. 
cxxviii. cxxxii. cxxxiv. cxxx v. cxxxvi. cxxxviii. cxlvi. 
cxlvii. cxlviii. cxlix. cl. 

According to Calmet's account, from which this in 
some respect varies, only forty-five Psalms are positively 
assigned to David ; though probably many more should 
be ascribed to him. It is, however, of less consequence 
to determine precisely by whom the Holy Spirit deli- 
vered these oracles, since we have indubitable evidence 
of the sacred character of the whole book ; for it is 
collectively cited in Scripture 8 , and is prophetical in 
almost every part 9 : and several of those persons who 
are supposed to have contributed to the composition of 

7 Bishop Horsley supposes the 14th and 53d to be different copies 
of the same Psalm. 

8 The evangelical writers cite the Psalms in general under the 
name of David. 

9 Gutheri Theolog. Proph. p. 98. Brentius ad 2 Jam. xxiii. 
26. 



OF THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 261 

the work, are expressly represented as prophets in 
Scripture l . 

The name of David is prefixed to about seventy- 
three ; and many persons have collected from the last 
verse of the seventy-second Psalm, which reports, that 
" the prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended ;" 
that David's hymns do there conclude. If, indeed, we 
consider that this Psalm was probably produced on the 
establishment of Solomon on the throne of his father, 
it is not unlikely that it contains the last effusions of 
David's prophetic spirit 2 ; but as his compositions are 
not all placed together, many which follow in the order 
of the book may have been written by him : and we 
may suppose him to have been the author of at least all 
those which are not particularly assigned to others, or 
inconsistent with his time 3 . The Psalms are certainly 
not arranged with any regard to chronology 4 , and many 

1 Heman, Asaph, and Jeduthun, supposed authors of some of the 
Psalms, are in Scripture called seers, and said to have prophesied. 
Vid. 2 Chron. xxix. 30. xxxv. 15. 1 Chron. xxv. 1 — 5. Vid. 
also, 1 Kings iv. 30, 31. where Ethan (whom some consider as the 
author of Psal. lxxxviii. and lxxxix.) is spoken of as eminent for 
wisdom. 

2 In the prospect of the prosperity of his son's government, David, 
on the strength of Divine promises, breaks out into an enraptured 
description of the duration, extent, and character of the kingdom of 
Christ. Vid. ver. 7- 11, 12. 17. 

3 St. Peter cites the second Psalm as David's, though it is not in- 
scribed to him ; and others which have no title were undoubtedly 
written by David. Acts iv. 25. Compare Psal. cxv. 7, 8. with, 
Heb. iv. 7. Ps. xcvi. with 1 Chron. xvi. 7, &c. Ps. cv. with 1 
Chron. xvi. 8. Ps. cvi. 47, 48. with 1 Chron. xvi. 35, 36. On the 
other hand, some which have no title, were not written by David, as 
cxxxvii. which was not composed till the Babylonish captivity, 

Hieron. in Jerem. xxv. p. 645. 



262 OF THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 

which follow the seventy-second in the order of the 
book, are inscribed with the name of David. It must 
be observed, however, that the titles prefixed to the 
Psalms, some of which are not in the Hebrew manu- 
scripts, are often of very questionable authority ; and 
sometimes undoubtedly not of equal antiquity with the 
text, being possibly affixed as conjectural. They were 
not always designed to point out the author, but often 
apply to the musicians 5 appointed to set them to music. 
They, likewise, sometimes appear to be only terms of 
instruments 6 , or directions for the choice of tunes 7 . 
But it must be confessed, that upon this subject the 
opinions are so various and conjectural, that nothing 
satisfactory can be offered, any more than upon the 
word Selah 8 , which so often recurs. 

Many fanciful divisions of this book have been made. 
The Jews, at some uncertain period, divided it into five 
sections, probably in imitation of the division of the 
Pentateuch 9 . The four first books of this division ter- 



5 Some of the names prefixed to the Psalms are assigned to the 
musicians whom David appointed. Vid. 1 Chron. xv. 16 — 22. xvi. 
7. The word Lamnatzizeach is supposed to mean " the chief Musi- 
cian." It is derived from Mnatzeach, which signifies Overseer. 

6 As, perhaps, Nehiloth, Sheminith, Gitith, Michtam, Aijeleth 
Shehar, &c. Vid. Geirus ad Ps. v. Michaelis, &c. 

7 As Neginoth. Vid. Burney's Hist. Mus. vol. i. p. 235. Har- 
mer's Observations on Passages in Scripture, vol. ii. chap. ii. Ob- 
serv. iii. 

8 Selah is translated in the Septuagint SiaxpaXjja, a pause in sing- 
ing, or a change in tune. Vid. Hieron. Epist. ad Marcel, and Calmet 
Dissert, sur Selah. 

9 Madrash Sillim. fol. 2. vol. i. Hieron. Prsef. in Psalm, juxt. 
Heb. Verit. Hilar. Prol. in Psalm. Huet. assigns this division to 
the time of the Maccabees. Vid. Prop. iv. in Psalm. Gregor. Nyss. 

1 



OF THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 263 

minate with the word Amen ; the fifth with Hallelu- 
jah, which signifies, " Praise ye Jehovah." The present 
order of the Psalms is, perhaps, that in which they were 
sung in the temple \ and the recitation there used may 
account for the occasional repetitions. 

Moses may be considered among the earliest com- 
posers of sacred hymns 2 ; all nations seem afterwards 
to have adopted this mode of expressing their religious 
sentiments, and to have employed hymns in celebrating 
the praises of their respective deities 3 , on a conviction 
derived, perhaps, from revealed truth, that they were 
acceptable to the Divine nature. 

The composition of sacred hymns was carried to great 
excellence by succeeding prophets ; but was improved 
to its highest perfection under David ; who, if he did 
not first introduce, certainly established the custom of 
singing them in public service 4 , with alternate inter- 
change of verse, as in our cathedral service 5 . David 
was, indeed, a great patron of sacred music 6 ; he intro- 
duced many new instruments and improvements in this 
spiritual part of the Jewish worship, which was super- 

in Psalm. Tractat. sec. c. v. p. 300. et c. xi. p. 324. torn. i. edit. 
Paris, 1638. 2 Mace. ii. 13, 14. 

1 Euthym. Prol. in Psalm. Comp. Psalms xiv. and liii. 

2 Exod. xv. Deut. xxxii. 

3 Euseb. Hist. Eccl. lib. ii. c. xvii. Pharmat. de Nat. Deor. Targ. 
in cent. i. 1. Clem. Alex. Strom, lib. vi. p. 784. edit. Potter. Por- 
phyry de Abstin. lib. iv. § 8. p. 153. edit. Cantab. 1655. Alex, ab 
Alex. Genial. Dier. lib. iv. c. xvii, 

4 1 Chron. vi. 31. xvi. 6, 7. Ecclus. xlvii. 9. 

5 Ezra iii. 11. 

6 1 Chron. xvi. 42. xxiii. 5. xxv. 1. 2 Chron. vii. 6. xxix. 26. 
and Joseph. Antiq. lib. vii. c. xii. 



264 OF THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 

induced over that of sacrifice 7 . Josephus represents 
him, when in the enjoyment of peace, to have com- 
posed many hymns in different measures, and to have 
instructed the Levites to sing praises to God, not only 
on the Sabbath, but on other solemn festivals 8 . The 
practice of Psalmody must have received some inter- 
ruption from the suspension of the temple service, 
during the captivity 9 . It was, however, restored, 
though with less splendour, by Ezra ] ; and continued 
till it received the sanction of Christ and his apostles, 
who themselves recommended the custom by their 
precept and example 2 . 

The hymn which our Saviour sung with his disciples 
at the conclusion of the last supper, is generally sup- 
posed to have consisted of the Psalms that are contained 
between the one hundred and thirteenth and the one 
hundred and eighteenth inclusive \ This was called 
by the Jews the great Hallel, or hymn, and was usually 

7 August, de Civit. Dei, lib. xvii. c. xiv. p. 486-7. edit. Paris, 
1685. Codure, Caten. in Psalm. Praep. p. 10. 

8 Antiq. lib. vii. c. xii. p. 319. edit. Huds. 

9 Psalm cxxxvii. 

1 Ezra iii. 11. Nehem. xii. 24. 31. 38. 40. 

2 Matt. xxvi. 30. 1 Cor. xiv. 15. Ephes. v. 19. Col. iii. 16. 
Rev. xiv. 2, 3. Vid. Calmet's Preface, Bossuet, Hammond, Allix, 
&c. All vocal and instrumental performers were excluded from the 
Jewish synagogues after the destruction of Jerusalem. The little 
singing now used is of modern introduction. The Jews, indeed, 
consider it as improper to indulge in such expression of joy before 
the advent of their still expected Messiah. The German Jews, how- 
ever, entertain different notions, and have a musical establishment. 
They have, likewise, some melodies supposed to be very ancient ; 
but it is thought that the ancient diatonic notes are preserved more 
in the Psalmody of our church, than in the Jewish synagogues. 

3 Buxtorf.Lex. Talmud. V?n. Col.vi. 13. Lightfoot,vol.ii.354.444. 



OF THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 265 

sung by them at the celebration of the Passover. Christ 
also exclaimed, in his solemn invocation on God from 
the cross, in the complaints of the twenty-second 
Psalm 4 , and breathed out his last sentiments of expir- 
ing piety in the words of David 5 . " No tongue of 
man or angel," says Dr. Hammond, " can convey a 
higher idea of any book, and of their felicity who use it 
aright." The Christian church has, therefore, by Di- 
vine appointment, adopted the Psalms as a part of its 
service, and chosen from its first institution, to cele- 
brate the praises of God in the language of Scripture 6 ; 

4 Comp. Matt, xxvii. 46. with Ps. xxii. 1. 

5 Comp. Luke xxiii. 46. with Ps. xxxi. 5. 

6 1 Cor. xiv. 15. Ephes. v. 19. Coloss. iii. 16. James v. 13. 
Constit. Apost. lib. ii. c. Ivii. Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. c. xxxiii. 
Theod. Hist. Eccles. lib. ii. c. xxiv. August. Conf. lib. ix. c. vi. 
§ 2. lib. x. c. xxxiii. § 2. Plin. Epist. lib. x. Epist. xcvii. Tertul. 
Apol. c. ii. p. 3. c. xxxix. p. 36. Fabric. Bib. Grsec. vol. v. c. 1. 
The practice of psalm-singing, as used in our choir, is derived, pro- 
bably, from the ancient alternate chanting of the Jews (Ezra iii. 11. 
Nehem. xii. 24.) authorised by the apostles, and adopted into the 
earliest Christian churches. It was certainly instituted at Antioch, 
between a.d. 347 and 356, by Flavianus and Diodorus : who di- 
vided the choir into two parts, which sang alternately. Singing 
was soon afterwards introduced into the Western church by St. Am- 
brose ; and adopted with improvements by Gregory the Great, who 
established the grave Gregorian chant which now prevails in the 
Romish church. Choral music was brought into England by the 
companions of Austin the monk, a.d. 596, and first established at 
Canterbury. Objections were often made in this country to church 
music, but it was approved by the compilers of king Edward's Li- 
turgy : and soon after was composed the formula that now regulates 
(with little variation) the choral service, which, though occasionally 
suspended till the restoration of Charles the Second, has since been 
uniformly continued. Vid. Mart. Gerbert. Music. Sac. Bedford's 
Temple Music. Hawkins's History of Music, vol. i. and ii. Burney's 
History of Music, vol. i. p. 154, &e. 



266 OF THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 

and these sacred hymns are, indeed, admirably calcu- 
lated for every purpose of devotion. 

The expressions and descriptions of the Psalms may 
seem to some persons to have been appropriate and 
peculiar to the Jewish circumstances ; and David, in- 
deed, employs figures and allusions applicable to the 
old dispensation. But as in recording temporary deli- 
verances and blessings vouchsafed to the Jews, we com- 
memorate spiritual advantages thereby signified, we use 
the Psalms with the greatest propriety in our church. 
" We need," as an elegant commentator has observed, 
" but substitute the Messiah for David, the Gospel for 
the Law, and the church of Christ for that of Israel 7 ;" 
we need but consider the ceremonies and sacrifices of 
the law as the emblems of spiritual service, of which 
every part hath its corresporident figure ; and we appro- 
priate the Psalms to our own use, as among the noblest 
treasures of inspired wisdom. They finely illustrate 
the connexion which subsisted between the two cove- 
nants, and shed an evangelical light on the Mosaic 
dispensation by unveiling its inward radiance. The 
veneration for them has, in all ages of the church, been 
considerable. The fathers assure us that, in the earlier 
times, the whole Book of Psalms was generally learned 
by heart 8 , and that the ministers of every gradation 
were expected to be able to repeat them from memory ; 
that Psalmody was everywhere a constant attendant at 
meals and in business ; that it enlivened the social 
hours, and softened the fatigues of life. The Psalms 
were much in use at the Reformation, and they have, 
indeed, as Lord Clarendon observes, been ever thought 

7 Bishop Home's Pref. to Com. on the Psalms. 

8 " Pueri modulantur domi, viri foro circumferunt," says an an- 
cient writer. Vid. Basil, and Ambrose Prsef. in Psalm. 



OF THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 267 

to contain something extraordinary for the instruction 
and reformation of mankind 9 . 

Numberless are the testimonies which might be pro- 
duced in praise of these admirable compositions, which 
contain, indeed, a complete epitome of the history, 
doctrines, and instructions of the Old Testament l ; de- 
livered with every variety of style that may encourage 
attention, and framed with an elegance of construction 
superior far to that of the finest models in which Pagan 
antiquity hath enclosed its mythology. These inva- 
luable Scriptures are daily repeated without weariness, 
though their beauties are often overlooked in familiar 
and habitual perusal. As hymns immediately addressed 
to the Deity, they reduce righteousness to practice, and 
while we acquire the principles, we perform the offices 
of piety; as while we supplicate for blessings, we cele- 
brate the memorial of former mercies. The general 
sentiments which are uttered, appear often applicable 
to individuals, and as we read, we appropriate the re- 
flections, and seem to express our own feelings in in- 
spired language. 

Here, likewise, while in the exercise of devotion, 
faith is enlivened by the display of prophecy. David, in 
the spirit of inspiration, uttered his oracles with the 
most lively and exact description. He expressed the 

9 Home's Preface. It is remarkable, that this Book of Psalms is 
exactly the kind of work which Plato wished to see for the instruc- 
tion of youth, but conceived it impossible to execute, as above the 
power of human abilities : tovto %e Qeov ?} Qeiov t'ivoq av sir]' but this 
must be the work of a God, or of some divine person. De Legibus, 
lib. ii. torn. ii. p. 657. edit. Serrani, 1578. 

1 Luther called the Psalms a small Bible. The Psalter was one 
of the first books printed after the discovery of the art. 



268 OF THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 

whole scheme of man's redemption : the incarnation 2 ; 
the passion ; the resurrection 3 ; and ascension of the 
Son of God, as likewise the gifts of the Holy Ghost, 
which our Lord obtained 4 , and the increase of his do- 
minion, rather as a witness, than as a prophet. As an 
eminent type of his descendant, he is often led in the 
retrospect of the circumstances of his own life, to speak 
of those of Christ. While he is describing his own 
enemies and sufferings, the Spirit enlargeth his senti- 
ments, swelleth out his expressions to a proportion 
adapted to the character of the Messiah designated by 
Divine appointment as a priest for ever, and a judge of 
the heathen 5 . Hence even the personal sufferings of 
Christ are described with minute and accurate fidelity ; 
and in the anticipated scene of prophecy we behold him 
pourtrayed on the cross, and surrounded by those who 
" stand looking and staring" upon him, under every 
attendant circumstance of anguish, mockery, and horror, 
even to the "parting of his garments," and to the 
" casting lots for his vesture 6 ." 

David, apprised that the Messiah should spring from 
his own immediate family 7 , looked forward with pecu- 
liar interest to his character and afflictions. In the 
foreknowledge of those sufferings which Christ should 
experience from his " familiar friends," and from the 
numerous adversaries of his church, the Psalmist speaks 

2 Psalm ii. 7. Acts xiii. 33. Talmud Sucah. cap. v. Aben Ezra. 
R. Kimchi. 

3 Psalm xvL 9 — 11. compare with Acts ii. 29 — 36. 

4 Psalm lxviii. 18. Eph. iv. 6—13. 5 Psalm ex. 4—6. 

6 Psalm xxii. 16. 18. compared with Matthew xxvii. 35. Bur- 
net's 10th and 11th sermons in Boyle's Lectures. 

7 2 Sam. vii. 12. Psalm exxxii. 11. 18. 



OF THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 269 

with the highest indignation against those enemies who 

O So 

prefigured the foes of Christ ; and imprecates, or pre- 
dicts, the severest vengeance against them 8 . So signal 
a representative of Christ, indeed, was David considered 
by the sacred writers, that our Saviour is often expressly 
distinguished in Scripture by his name 9 ; and the Jews 
themselves perceived that the Messiah and his kingdom 
were shadowed out as capital objects in the descriptions 
of the Psalmist. Sensible that what David uttered, 
as often not applicable to his own person and history \ 
must have had reference to some future character, 
they transcribed whole passages from them into their 
prayers for the speedy coming of the great object of 
their hopes ; though, in that infatuated blindness which 
characterizes their conduct with the marks of glaring 
inconsistency, they deny that these spiritual allusions 
are applicable to the person of our Saviour ; and there- 

8 The severity with which David inveighs against the wicked, has 
been erroneously considered as inconsistent with the spirit of true 
religion. The passages, however, which are objected to on this 
score, are either prophetic threats, or general denunciations of God's 
wrath against sin, as it were, personified. It is the Spirit, rather 
than David, which utters its imprecations against the unrighteous 
enemies of the church. Forgiveness and mercy towards the per- 
sons of his own enemies, were distinguished parts of David's charac- 
ter, of which we see very beautiful proofs in 1 Sam. xxiv. 4. 10. 
xxvi. 7—13. 2 Sam. i. 17 — 27. xix. 16—23. He cursed only 
those whom God instructed him to curse ; and the church, in its 
public service, joins in these general curses, as a religious society, 
without violating the spirit of charity. See 1 Cor. xvi. 22. Gal. 
i. 8, 9. 

9 Isa.lv. 3. Jerem. xxx. 9. Ezek. xxxiv. 23. xxxvii. 24. Hos. 
iii. 5. 

1 Psa. xvi. 10. xx. 4. 6. xxii. 16 — 18. lxxii. and Justin Martyr, 
Dial. 1st. 



270 OF THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 

fore still pray, in the words of the Psalmist, for the 
arrival of the Messiah 2 . 

Josephus asserts 3 , and most of the ancient writers 
maintain, that the Psalms were composed in various 
metres. They have undoubtedly a peculiar conforma- 
tion of sentences, and a measured distribution of parts. 
Many of them are elegiac, and most of David's are 
of the lyric kind. There is no sufficient reason, how- 
ever, to believe, as some writers have imagined, that 
they were written in rhyme, or exactly in any known 
measures. Some of them are acrostic ; and though the 
regulations of the Hebrew Prosody are now lost, there 
can be no doubt, from the harmonious modulation of 
the Psalms, that they were written with some kind of 
metrical order, and they must have been composed in 
accommodation to the measure to which they were set 4 . 
The Masoretic writers have marked them in a manner 
different from the other sacred writings 5 . 

The Hebrew copies and the Septuagint version of 
this book contain the same number of Psalms ; only 
the Septuagint translators have, for some reason, which 

2 Chandler's Defence of Christianity, ch. iii. sect. 2. Comp. Psa. 
xxxii. with 13th, 16th, 18th, and other prayers. Hosan Rabba. 

3 Lib. vii. Antiq. c. xii. p. 319, &c. Hieron. Epist. 2d. ad Paulin. 
torn. iv. p. 573. 

4 It is probable that the Psalms were originally divided into verses 
terminating with the conclusion of the sense, though many of the 
Jews maintain, that the Masorites introduced the distinction. Vid. 
Buxtorf. Com. Masoret. p. 38. 

5 Some persons suppose that the points were at first musical 
characters, and it is said that they still serve, not only to mark the 
accentuation in reading, but also to regulate the melody in singing 
the prophecies ; and that as to high and low, as well as to long and 
short notes. Vid. Burney's Hist, of Music, vol. i. p. 251. 



OF THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 271 

does not appear, thrown the ninth and tenth into one 6 : 
as also the one hundred and fourteenth, and the one 
hundred and fifteenth ; and have divided the one hun- 
dred and sixteenth ; and the one hundred and forty- 
seventh, each into two. In the Syriac 7 and Arabic 
versions, indeed, and also in most copies of the Septua- 
gint, as well as in an Anglo-Saxon version, there is 
annexed to the hundred and fifty canonical Psalms, an 
additional hymn, which is entitled, " a Psalm of thanks- 
giving of David, when he had vanquished Goliath." 
This, though admitted by some 8 as authentic, was pro- 
bably (as it is not in the Hebrew) a spurious work of 
some Hellenistical Jew ; who might have compiled it 
out of the writings of David, Isaiah, and Ezekiel. The 
version of the Psalms in our Bible, which was made by 
the translators employed under James the First, is pos- 
terior to that printed in our prayer-books, which was 
executed in 1539 9 . This last, as very excellent, and 

c So that the Romanists, who use St. Jerom's translation, reckon 
one behind us from the xth to the cxivth, and two from thence to 
the cxvith, and again one from thence to the cxlviith, from whence 
they continue to agree with us. 

7 It is said in the Syriac, that some add twelve Psalms, which, 
however, are there rejected as without authority. 

8 Athanasius in Synop. lib. xiii. p. 90. edit. Paris, 1627. 

9 Introduction, p. 34. This was Tyndale's and Coverdale's 
translation, corrected by Tonstal and Heath. In this the fourteenth 
Psalm contains eleven verses ; whereas in the Hebrew, and in our 
Bible, it contains but seven (or rather eight.) The three verses have 
been continued as genuine, as they are in some copies of the Sep- 
tuagint, and appear to be cited by St. Paul, Rom. iii. 13 — 18. 
They might have been framed from detached passages, and other 
parts of Scripture. See particularly Psalm v. 9. cxl. 3. x. 7. 
Isaiah lix. 7, 8. Psalm xxxvi. 1. The denunciations in the 
cxxxviith Psalm, which are similar to those of Isaiah, Jeremiah, 



272 OF THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 

familiarized by custom, was retained in the Liturgy, 
though as translated chiefly from the Septuagint, with 
some variation in conformity to the Hebrew, corrupted 
by the Masoretic points, it does not so exactly corres- 
pond with the original as that in our Bibles K 

David was the son of Jesse, of the tribe of Judah, a 
descendant of that family, to which God's covenant was 
made. He was born about a.m. 2920, and lived seventy 
years, during forty of which he was in possession of 
the throne of Israel. 2 , being raised by God from a 
humble to a conspicuous station, in order possibly that 
the genealogy of the Messiah might be ascertained with 
more clearness and distinction. He declared with " his 
last words," that " the spirit of the Lord spake by him," 
" that his word was in his tongue, and that God had 
made with him an everlasting covenant, which was his 
salvation and his desire 3 ." He was eminently distin- 
guished by great and amiable qualities. The particulars 

and Obadiah, were fulfilled in the destruction of Edom and Baby- 
lon. 

1 Where the translators of the version published in our prayer- 
books have varied from the Septuagint, and followed the Hebrew 
Masoretic copies, the Hebrew text, if read without the points, would 
be as consistent with the Septuagint, and other ancient versions, as 
it is with the translation of our Bible. In the instances, then, where 
the authors of the version in the Liturgy have varied, in compliance 
with the Masoretic authority, they have generally erred. Vid. Dr. 
Brett and Johnson, at the end of Holy David. 

2 He reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in 
Jerusalem over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years, being 
anointed long before he came into possession of the throne. Vid. 
2 Sam. v. 4, 5. 1 Kings ii. 11. 1 Chron. xxix. 27. and Chandler. 

3 2 Sam. xxiii. 1 — 5. The word David implies " beloved." Vid. 
1 Sam. xiii. 14. and xxvi. 18. Bp. Porteus's sermon on David's 
character. 






OF THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 273 

of bis interesting life are displayed with peculiar mi- 
nuteness in sacred history ; and many of his Psalms are 
so characteristic of the circumstances under which they 
were composed, that there cannot be a more engaging 
task, than that of tracing their connection with the 
events of his history 4 ; and of discovering the occasions 
on which they were severally produced, in the feeling 
and descriptive sentiments which they contain. If in 
the successive scenes of his life, we behold him active 
in the exercise of those virtues which his piety pro- 
duced, we here contemplate him in a no less attractive 
point of view. In this book we find him a sincere 
servant of God, divested of all the pride of royalty ; 
pouring out the emotions of his soul in privacy, and in 
the congregation of his people, and unfolding his pious 
sentiments in every vicissitude of condition. At one 
time we have the prayers of distress ; at another, the 
praises and exultation of triumph. Hence are the 
Psalms admirably adapted to all circumstances of life, 
and serve alike for the indulgence of joy, or the sooth- 
ing of sorrow ; they still chase away sullen despondence 
and affliction, and furnish gladness by strains of holy 
and religious rapture 5 . 

* Delaney's Life of David, * Ephes. v. 19, Col. iii, 16, 






OF THE 



BOOK OF PROVERBS. 



The Proverbs, as we are informed at the beginning, and 
in other parts of the book *, were written by Solomon, 
the son of David ; a man, as the sacred writings assure 
us, peculiarly endued with Divine wisdom 2 . What- 
ever conceptions of his superior understanding we may 
be led to form by the particulars recorded of his judg- 
ment and attainments, we shall find them amply justi- 
fied, on perusing the works which remain in testimony 
of his abilities. This enlightened monarch, being desi- 
rous of employing the wisdom which he had received 
to the advantage of mankind, produced several works 
for their instruction. Of these, however, three only 
were admitted into the canon of the sacred writ by 
Ezra ; the others, being either not designed for religious 
instruction, or so mutilated by time and accident, as to 
have been judged imperfect. The book of Proverbs, 
that of Ecclesiastes, and that of the Song of Solomon, 
are all that remain of him, who is related to have 
spoken " three thousand proverbs 3 ;" whose " songs 

1 Vid. chap. i. 1. xxv. 1. 

2 Vid. 1 Kings iii. 12. iv. 29—31. xi. 9. 2 Chron. i. 12. 

3 Vid. 1 Kings iv. 32. Josephus magnifies the account of Scrip- 
ture to 3000 books of Proverbs ; and St. Jerom, as erroneously 



OF THE BOOK OF PROVERBS. 275 

were a thousand and five*," and who "spake of trees, 
from the cedar that is in Lebanon, even to the hyssop 
that springeth out of the wall ;" who " spake also of 
beasts, and of fowls, and of creeping things, and of 
fishes." If, however, many valuable writings of Solomon 
have perished, we have reason to be grateful for what 
still remains. Of his proverbs and songs the most 
excellent have been providentially preserved ; and as 
we possess his doctrinal and moral works, we have no 
right to murmur at the loss of his physical and philo- 
sophical productions. 

This Book of Proverbs contains the maxims of long 
experience, framed by one who was well qualified, by 
his rare talents and endowments, to draw just lessons 
from a comprehensive survey of human life. Solomon 
judiciously sums up his precepts in brief energetic 
sentences, which are well contrived for popular instruc- 
tion 4 . The wisdom, indeed, of all ages, from the highest 

conceives, that these 3000 Proverbs are contained in the present 
book ; but we must admit that many of this number have perished. 
Some have supposed, that the physical books of Solomon were ex- 
tant in the days of Alexander, and were translated by means of an 
interpreter into the works of Aristotle and Theophrastus, whose 
collections have perished. Vid. Antiq. lib. viii. c. ii. p. 339. edit. 
Hud. Juchasin. Eusebius (as cited by Anastasius) says, that King 
Hezekiah suppressed them, because abused by the people. 

4 The Proverbs of Solomon are called in the Hebrew Meshalim, 
from bmn, Meshel, to have dominion. The word may be translated 
rvpiai Zolai, sententiae maxime ratae, authoritative maxims, elevated 
precepts. Vid. Job xxvii. 1. Cicer. de Fin. 1. ii. c. 7. p. 108. edit. 
Paris, 1740. Maius CEconomia temporum. Vet. et Novi Test. 
p. 838. Bacon de Augmentis Scientiarum. They are to be con- 
sidered as general maxims, and not as universally and invariably 
applicable, or as always true in a strict sense without any excep- 
tions. 

T 2 



276 OF THE BOOK OF PROVERBS. 

antiquity, hath chosen to compress its lessons into 
compendious sentences, which were peculiarly adapted 
to the simplicity of earlier times ; which are readily 
conceived, and easily retained ; and which circulate in 
society as useful principles, to be unfolded and applied 
as occasion may require. The inspired son of David 
had the power of giving peculiar poignancy and weight 
to this style of writing, and his works have been as it 
were the storehouse from which posterity hath drawn 
its best maxims 5 . His Proverbs are so justly founded 
on principles of human nature, and so adapted to the 
permanent interests of man, that they agree with the 
manners of every age ; and may be assumed as rules 
for the direction of our conduct in every condition and 
rank of life, however varied in its complexion, or diver- 
sified by circumstances; they embrace not only the 
concerns of private morality, but the great objects of 
political importance 6 . Subsequent moralists have, in 
their discourses on oecumenical prudence, done little 
more than dilate on the precepts, and comment on the 
wisdom of Solomon. Grotius, extensive as were his 
own powers, was unable to conceive that the Book of 
Proverbs could be the work of one man, and supposes 
it to have been a collection of the finest proverbs of 
the age, (made in the same manner as those published 

5 Many of the sacred writers who followed Solomon borrowed his 
thoughts and expressions ; and many heathen writers are indebted 
to him for their brightest sentiments. Vid. Huet. prop. 4. p. 171. 
edit. Paris, 1679, where imitations are produced from Theognis, 
Sophocles, Euripides, Anaxilaus, Plato, Horace, and Menander. 

6 St. Basil says of this book, that it is o\wg cU^acxaXta (3iov, an 
universal instruction for the government of life. Homil. 12, in 
Prineip, Proverb, p. 454. torn. i. edit. 1618. 



OF THE BOOK OF PROVERBS. 277 

by some of the emperors at Constantinople in subse- 
quent times,) and perfected from various collections 
under Hezekiah 7 . But this opinion, founded in part 
on some rabbinical accounts, cannot be allowed to in- 
validate the exclusive claim of Solomon, to what is 
usually ascribed to him. The work might, perhaps, 
compose part of the three thousand proverbs which 
Solomon is described to have uttered, being probably 
digested as far as the twenty-fifth chapter by that 
monarch himself, and afterwards received into the 
canon with some additions. 

The book may be considered under five divisions. 
The first part, which is a kind of preface, extends to 
the tenth chapter. This contains general cautions and 
exhortations from a teacher to his pupil, delivered in 
varied and elegant language : duly connected in its 
parts ; illustrated with beautiful descriptions ; decorated 
with all the ornaments of poetical composition, and 
well contrived as an engaging introduction to awaken 
and interest the attention. 

The second part extends from the beginning of the 
tenth chapter to the seventeenth verse of the twenty- 
second, and contains what may strictly and properly 
be called Proverbs, given in unconnected general sen- 
tences 8 with much neatness and simplicity 9 ; adapted 

7 Grotius Prsef. in Prov. 

8 The general scope of the discourse, however, must be remem- 
bered, even in the explication of detached sentiments. 

9 The proverbs generally consist of two sentences, joined in a 
kind of antithesis ; the second being sometimes a reduplication, 
sometimes an explanation, and sometimes an opposition in the sense 
to the first. This style of composition produces great beauties in 
many other parts of Scripture, where it is employed for poetical ar- 
rangement. Vid. Lovvth's Praelect. xix. 



278 OF THE BOOK OF PROVERBS. 

to the instruction of youth, and probably more imme- 
diately designed by Solomon for the improvement of 
his son \ These are truly, to use his own comparison, 
" apples of gold in pictures of silver." 

In the third part, which contains what is included 
between the sixteenth verse of the twenty-second 
chapter and the twenty-fifth chapter, the instructor is 
supposed, for a more lively effect, to address his pupil 
as present ; he drops the sententious style of proverbs, 
and communicates exhortations in a more continued 
and connected strain. 

The proverbs which are included between the twenty- 
fifth and thirtieth chapters, and which constitute the 
fourth part, are supposed to have been selected from a 
much greater number by the men of Hezekiah ; that 
is, by the prophets whom he employed to restore the 
service and the writings of the church, as Eliakim, and 
Joah, and Shebnah ; and probably Hosea, Micah, and 
even Isaiah 2 , who all flourished in the reign of that 
monarch, and doubtless co-operated with his endeavours 
to re-establish true religion among the Jews. These 
proverbs, indeed, appear to have been selected by some 
collectors after the time of Solomon, as they repeat 
some which he had previously introduced in the former 
part of the Book 3 . 

The fifth part contains the prudent admonitions 
which Agur, the son of Jakeh, delivered to his pupils, 

1 Rehoboam ; though the phrase " my son" is only a term of 
general application. Vid. Hebrews, chap. xii. 5. Michael. Praef. 
in lib. 

2 Vid. R. Moses Kimchi. 

3 Compare chap. xxv. 24. with xxi. 9; xxvi. 13. with xxii. 13; 
xxvi. 15. with xix. 24; xxvi. 22. with xviii. 8, &c; 



OF THE BOOK OF PROVERBS. *279 

Ithiel and Ucal ; these are included in the thirtieth 
chapter. It contains also the precepts which the mother 
of Lemuel delivered to her son, as described in the 
thirty-first chapter. 

Concerning these persons whose works are annexed 
to those of Solomon, commentators have entertained 
various opinions. The original words which describe 
Agur as the author of the thirtieth chapter, might be 
differently translated 4 ; but admitting the present con- 
struction as most natural and just, we may observe, 
that the generality of the fathers, and ancient commen- 
tators, have supposed that under the name of Agur, 
Solomon describes himself, though no satisfactory reason 
can be assigned for his assuming this name 5 . Others 
conjecture that Agur and Lemuel were interlocutors 
with Solomon, but upon very insufficient grounds, since 
the book has no appearance of dialogue, for there is 
not any interchange of person. It is more probable, 
that though it was designed principally to contain the 
sayings of Solomon, others might have been added by 
the men of Hezekiah : and Agur might have been an 
inspired writer 6 , whose moral and proverbial sentences 

1 They might be translated, the words of the Collector. In the 
Septuagint, where this chapter is placed immediately after the xxivth, 
we read instead of the first verse, to. Ce. Xiyei 6 avrjp toiq Trivrevovcri 
0£w~, teal 7ravojiat, Thus speaketh the man to those who believe in 
God, and I cease. 

6 Vid. Lowth's xviiith Prselect. and Calmet. 

6 The second, and third verses, though they tend as well as the 
eighth to prove that the chapter was not written by Solomon, yet 
by no means invalidate the author's claim to inspiration, who here 
describes himself as devoid of understanding before he received the 
influx of Divine wisdom. In the Septuagint the third verse ex- 
presses a sense directly contrary, Qeog hdlZaxi pe aoQiav ical yv&aiv 

3 



280 OF THE BOOK OF PROVERBS. 

(for such is the import of the word Massa, rendered 
prophecy 7 ,) were joined with those of the wise man, 
because of the conformity of their matter. So likewise 
the dignity of the book is not affected, if we suppose 
the last chapter to have been written by a different 
hand ; and admit the mother of Lemuel to have been 
a Jewish woman, married to some neighbouring prince ; 
or Abiah, the daughter of the high-priest Zechariah, 
and mother of king Hezekiah ; in any case, it must be 
considered as the production of an inspired writer, or 
it would not have been received into the canon of 
Scripture. But it was perhaps meant that by Lemuel 
we should understand Solomon 8 ; for the word which 
signifies one belonging to God, might have been given 
unto him as descriptive of his character, since to Solo- 
mon, God had expressly declared that he would be 
unto him a father 9 . 

Dr. Delaney, who was a strenuous advocate for this 
opinion, declares that he took great pains to examine 
the objections that have been alleged against it, and he 
assures us that they are such as readers of the best 
understanding would be little obliged to him for retail- 
ing, or refuting. One of the chief objections, indeed, 
rather confirms what it was intended to destroy. The 
mother of Lemuel thrice calls her son, Bar, a word 
used in the second Psalm, and in the Song of Solomon 1 ; 

ayicjv eyvioica, God hath taught me wisdom, and I have learnt the 
knowledge of holy things. 

7 NttfD, the burden of the word of the Lord. Zech. ix. 1. Job 
xxvii. 1- Prov. xxx. 1. xxxi. 1. 

8 Vid. R. Nathan. Prov. iv. 3, 4. ° 2 Sam. vii. 14. 

1 in. Ps. ii. 12. and Cant. vi. 9. Bar in the Chaldee signifies 
son. David might have used it in that sense as well as Bath- 



OF THE BOOK OF PROVERBS. 281 

which may lead us to think that Lemuel may have 
been designed to denote Solomon, since the expression 
is employed by his father and by himself 2 . He then, 
conceives that the mother of Lemuel was Bathsheba 3 , 
and that the commendation annexed was designed for 
her, and he vindicates her character as deserving the 
eulogium. Should some circumstances in the descrip- 
tion, however, be judged inapplicable to her, there is 
no reason why we should not conceive a general cha- 
racter to have been intended. It appears then upon a 
collective consideration, that the greatest part of the 
book was digested, and perhaps composed by Solomon 
himself; that some additions were made, principally 
from the works of Solomon, by the men of Hezekiah ; 
and that the whole was arranged into its present form, 
and admitted into the canon by Ezra. It is often cited 
by the evangelical writers 4 , and the work, as it now 
stands, contains an invaluable compendium of instruc- 
tion. It is supposed to have been the production of 
Solomon when arrived at maturity of life : when his 
mind had multiplied its stores, and become enlarged by 
long observation and experience. It was probably 
written before the book of Ecclesiastes, for it seems to 
be therein mentioned 5 . 

sheba in this book ; for we know not how early foreign expressions 
(if it be one) might have been adopted into the Hebrew language. 

2 Vid. Delaney's Life of David, book iv. chap. xxi. and Calmet. 

3 Vid. also Bedford, p. 607, Calmet and Locke, who are of the 
same opinion. Prov. iv. 3. Bathsheba is by some supposed to 
have been endued with the spirit of prophecy. Vide chap. xxxi. 1. 

* Vid. Matt. xv. 4. Luke xiv. 10. Rom. xii. 16, 17. 20. 1 
Thess. v. 15. 1 Pet. iv. 8. v. 5. James iv. 6, &c. passim. See 
ch.iii. 11, 12. xxvi. 11. compare with Heb. xii. 5, 6. 2 Pet. ii 22. 

8 Eccles. xii. 9. 



282 OF THE BOOK OF PROVERBS. 

Solomon was born about a.m. 2971. He succeeded 
David about eighteen years after, and enjoyed a pros- 
perous reign of near forty years 6 . Under his govern- 
ment the kingdom was remarkable for its well regu- 
lated ceconomy, and its extensive commerce. It was 
so enlarged by his conquests and politic management, 
that " he reigned over," or made tributary, " all the 
kings from the river (Euphrates) even to the land of 
the Philistines and the borders of Egypt 7 ." Illustrious 
men were attracted from all parts by his fame for wis- 
dom and magnificence 8 . The son of Sirach said of 
him, that he was " a flood filled with understanding ; 
that his soul covered the whole earth ; and that he 
filled it with dark parables 9 ." His character, like that 
of every human being, was occasionally marked with 
the stains of sin, particularly towards the close of life, 
when his enfeebled mind was seduced to corrupt affec- 
tions and idolatry. It seems to have been intended by 
God, to expose the insufficiency of the highest endow- 
ments without a strict reverence to the precepts pre- 
scribed by him. The impotency even of preternatural 
strength had been shown in Samson ; and the failure, 
even of piety, when it yielded to the temptation of 
human passions, had been sadly illustrated in the trans- 
gression of David. Solomon exemplified the vanity of 
wisdom, the highest gift of Divine favour, when he de- 

6 The name of Solomon is analogous to Pacific, and is happily 
descriptive of the peaceful prosperity which he enjoyed. The Rab- 
bins consider it as appellative. 

7 2 Chron. ix. 26. 8 1 Kings x. 20. 

9 Ecclus. xlvii. 14, 15. The ancients prided themselves much 
on the knowledge of parables and proverbs. Vid. Prov. i. 6. Wisd. 
viii. 8. Ecclus. i. 25. vi. 35. xxxix. 1 — 3. 



OF THE BOOK OF PROVERBS. 283 

parted from the commandments of God. He disre- 
garded all the spirit of those instructions which had 
been appointed by the Almighty, for the government 
of his country. He was misled by the love of splen- 
dour, and by the admiration of those who resorted to 
his court, to seek riches and luxuries by foreign trade. 
In neglect of the Divine word, he multiplied to him- 
self horses and chariots, and by increasing to a licen- 
tious excess, the number of his wives, he was enticed, 
at length, by their seductions, to idolatry \ and added 
another striking instance of the truth of the inspired 
declaration, with respect to the sons of men, that there 
is none righteous, no, not one. 

The high reputation which Solomon enjoyed, occa- 
sioned many spurious writings to pass under the sanc- 
tion of his name, as the Psalter, as it is called, of Solo- 
mon, which consists of eighteen Greek Psalms, and 
which was probably the work of some Hellenistical 
Jew 2 , who might have compiled it from the writings 
of David, Isaiah, and Ezekiel 3 . Another book, like- 
wise, entitled The Cure of Diseases, mentioned by 
Kimchi 4 ; The Contradictions of Solomon, condemned 

1 Deut. xvii. 16, 17. Compare with 1 Kings iv. 26—28. x. 14 — 
23. 26—29. xi. 1—9. 

2 The Hellenistical Jews were Jews dispersed in foreign coun- 
tries, who spoke the Greek language. 

3 This Psalter, which, like most of the Hellenistical works, is full 
of Hebraisms, was copied from an ancient Greek manuscript in the 
Augsburg library by Andrea Scotto, and published with a Latin ver- 
sion by John Lewis de la Cerda. Vid. Calmet, Pref. Gen. sur les 
Pseaumes. These Psalms appear, from the index at the end of the 
New Testament, to have been formerly in the Alexandrian Manu- 
script, though they have been lost or torn form thence. 

4 Suidas states that Solomon wrote a Treatise on Remedies of 



284 OF THE BOOK OF PROVERBS. 

by pope Gelasius ; and his Testament, cited by M. 
Gaumin ; with five other books, mentioned by Alfred 
the Great, in his Mirror of Astrology ; and four named 
by Trithemenus, which savour of magical invention, are 
probably all spurious ; as well as the letters which he is 
said to have written to Hiram, and Hiram's answers, 
though Josephus considers these last as authentic 5 . 
The magical writings which were attributed to Solo- 
mon, were so assigned in consequence of a notion which 
prevailed in the East, that Solomon was conversant 
with magic ; a notion derived, perhaps, from the fame 
of those experiments which his physical knowledge 
might have enabled him to display ; but which, how- 
ever obtained, certainly prevailed ; for we learn from 
Josephus, that one named Eleazar, in the presence of 
Vespasian and others, pretended to release persons pos- 
sessed from the power of demons, by means of a ring, 
bearing an impression of a root, which had been pointed 
out by Solomon, and adjured them, in the name of 
Solomon, not to return ; at the same time reciting an 
incantation composed by him 6 . Amidst the supersti- 
tious notions, also, which long afterwards continued to 
delude the eastern nations, we find such imaginary 

Diseases, of which the most excellent axioms were inscribed on the 
vestibule of the temple of Jerusalem. 

5 Joseph. Antiq. lib. viii. cap. ii. p. 340. Josephus grounds the 
authenticity of these letters on Jewish and Tyrian records. Some 
suspected circumstances have been mentioned, as impeaching their 
claims : particularly it has been observed, that Hiram speaks of 
Tyre as an island, whereas old Tyre, which was contemporary with 
this period, was situated on the continent ; but the word »N seems to 
be applied to ancient Tyre in Isaiah xxiii. 2 — 6. Vide Parkhurst's 
Lexicon, Root *«. 

6 Joseph. Antiq. lib. viii. cap. ii. p. 339. 



OF THE BOOK OF PROVERBS. 285 

influence over evil spirits ascribed to the name Solo- 
mon. 

The Septuagint, and other versions of this book differ 
occasionally from the Hebrew original, and contain, 
indeed more proverbs, some of which are to be found, 
also, in the Book of Ecclesiasticus. The order, like- 
wise, of the poetical books is different in the Septua- 
gint 7 , and in some manuscripts ; where the metrical 
books run thus, Psalms, Job, and Proverbs. 

7 Codex Alexand. Vid. Grabe in Prolog, cap. i. § 2. Melito apud 
Euseb. Eccles. Hist. lib. iv. cap. 26. p. 147. Edit. Paris, 1659. 



OF THE 



BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES ; 



PREACHER. 



This Book was unquestionably the production of Solo- 
mon, who for the great excellency of his instructions 
was emphatically styled " the Preacher." It is said 
by the Jews to have been written by him, upon his 
awakening to repentance l , after he had been seduced, 
in the decline of life, to idolatry and sin, and had 
illustrated the failure of ill-directed pursuits ; and if 
this be true, it affords valuable proofs of the sincerity 
with which he regretted his departure from righteous- 
ness. Some, however, have ascribed the work to 
Isaiah 2 . The Talmudists pretend that Hezekiah was 
the author of it 3 ; and Grotius, upon some vague con- 
jectures, conceives that it was composed by order of 



1 Seder Olam Rabba, c. xv. p. 41. Hieron. in Eccles. i. 12. 
Vid. also, ch. ii. 10. vii. 26. 

2 R. Moses Kimchi. R. Gedalius in Schalsch Hakkab. fol. 66. 

3 Bava Bathra, c. i. f. 15. The Talmudists suppose Hezekiah to 
have produced, or compiled, the three books of Solomon, as likewise 
the Book of Isaiah. Vid. Peters's Praef. to Dissert, on Job, 8vo. edit. 



OF THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES. "287 

Zerubbabel 4 . But we shall be convinced that it 
should be assigned to Solomon, if we consider that the 
author styles himself " the son of David, the King in 
Jerusalem," and that he describes his wisdom, his 
riches, his writings, and his works in a manner appli- 
cable only to Solomon 5 ; likewise that the book is at- 
tributed to him both by Jewish and Christian tradition. 
The foreign expressions, if they really be such, which 
induced Grotius to consider the book as a production 
subsequent to the Babylonish captivity, might have 
been acquired by Solomon in his intercourse by com- 
merce with other nations, or by his connexion with 
foreign women 6 . But the style of the work must have 
often occasioned the introduction of unusual words 7 . 
The later Jews are said to have been desirous of ex- 
cluding it from the canon 8 , from some improprieties of 
representation which they fancied to exist, not consi- 
dering the scope and design of the author. But when 
they observed the excellent conclusion, and its consis- 
tency with the law, they allowed its pretensions. There 



4 Grotius in Eccles. 

5 Chap. i. 1. 12. 16. ii. 4—10. vii 25—28. viii. 16. xii. 9. See 
also, 1 Kings viii. 46. compare with ch. vii. 20. 

6 1 Kings xi. 1, 2. 

7 Maimon. More Nevoch. part ii. c. xlvii. Of the words pro- 
duced as foreign by Grotius, all are now allowed to be genuine 
Hebrew, except two nttfD. viii. 1. and ^>Dtf vi. 7. which were, per- 
haps, Arabic or Chaldaic expressions in use in the time of Solomon. 
Vid. Calovius de Praerequisit. Stud. Sac. c. i. sec. 4. p. 93 — 7. inter 
Opera. Edit. Witeberg. 1652. 

8 Maimon. More Nevoch. part ii. c. xxviii. Madrash. Cohel. 14. 
§ Aben Ezra, Eccles. vii. 4. Hieron. in Eccles. xii. 12. torn. ii. p. 
788. Gemar in Pirke Abboth, f. 1. col. 1. Some absurdly imagined, 
that Solomon maintained the eternity of the world in ch. i. 4. 



288 OF THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES. 

can, indeed, be no doubt of its title to admission : 
Solomon was eminently distinguished by the illumina- 
tion of the Divine Spirit, and had even twice witnessed 
the Divine presence 9 . The tendency of the book is 
excellent, when rightly understood, and Solomon speaks 
in it with great clearness of the revealed truths of a 
future life, and universal judgment. 

The book is in the Hebrew denominated " Coheleth," 
a word which signifies one who speaks in public l ; and 
which, indeed, is properly translated by the Greek word 
Ecclesiastes 2 , or the Preacher. Solomon, as Mr. 
Desvoeux has remarked, seems here to speak in a 
character similar to that of the sophists among the 
Greeks ; not, indeed, of the sophists when degenerated 
into subtle and quibbling wranglers, but of the sophists 
who, in the dignity of their primitive character, blended 
philosophy and rhetoric 3 ; and made pleasure subser- 
vient to instruction, by conveying wisdom with elo- 
quence. Though Solomon is not hereby to be con- 
sidered as having harangued, like the common orators 
of his time, yet, as there can be no doubt, that he often 
publicly instructed his own people and even strangers, 
who were drawn by his reputation for wisdom to his 
court 4 , it is not improbable that this discourse was 
first delivered in public ; and, indeed, some passages 

9 1 Kings iii. 5. ix. 2. xi. 9. 

1 Some say that the word Coheleth means a Collector, in the 
Ethiopic tongue it implies a circle, or company of men. 

2 'Eio:\r7oria0T>;e. The Hebrew word has, however, a feminine 
termination in respect to wisdom, personified, as it were, in Solo- 
mon ; or as abstractedly used, it seems, to imply preaching. 

3 Philostratus de Vitis Sophistarum inter XenrufiEya, p. 479. edit. 
Lipsiae, 1709. Cicero Orat. lib, i. c. xix. p. 149. edit. Paris, 1740. 

4 Mercer. Praef. in Eccles. 



OF THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES. 289 

have been produced from the book in support of this 
opinion 5 . 

The main scope and tendency of the work have been 
variously represented. Mr. Desvoeux, after an accu- 
rate discussion of the different opinions, has pronounced 
it to be a philosophical discourse 6 , written in a rhetori- 
cal style, and occasionally interspersed with verses 7 . 
It may be considered as a kind of enquiry into the 
chief good ; an enquiry conducted on sound principles, 
and terminating in a conclusion which all, on mature 
reflection, will approve. The great object of Solomon 
appears to have been, from a comprehensive considera- 
tion of the circumstances of human life, to demonstrate 
the errors of men and the vanity of all secular pursuits. 
He endeavours to illustrate by a just estimate, the in- 
sufficiency of earthly enjoyment ; not with design to 
excite in us a disgust at life 8 , but to influence us to 
prepare for that state where there is no vanity 9 . With 
this view, the Preacher affirms, that man's labour, as 
far as it has respect only to present objects, is vain and 
unprofitable ' ; that however prosperous and flattering 
circumstances may appear, yet, as he could from ex- 
perience assert, neither knowledge, nor pleasure, nor 

5 Chap. xii. 9. 12. Gregor. Mag. lib. iv. Dial. c. iv. torn. iii. 
p. 315. edit. Antwerp. 1615. 

6 Desvoeux, Philosophical and Critical Essays on Eccles. 

7 The Jews do not admit that Ecclesiastes should be considered 
as a poetical work. 

8 The Manichaeans, not considering that human pursuits are only 
so far vain as they terminate in a present object, maintained the 
existence of an evil principle. 

9 August, de Civit. Dei, 1. 20. c. iii. p. 575. Hieron. Com. in 
Eccles. 

1 Compare Eccles. i. 2, with Persius Sat. I. line 1. 

U 



290 OF THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES. 

magnificence, nor greatness, nor uncontrolled indul- 
gence, can satisfy the desires of man 2 ; that the solici- 
tude with which some men toil and heap up possessions 
for descendants often unworthy, is especial vexation ; 
that it is better far to derive such enjoyment from the 
gifts of Providence, as they are designed to afford, by 
being rendered subservient to good actions 3 . 

Solomon proceeds to observe, that in this life, 
" iniquity usurps the place of righteousness ;" that man 
appears in some respects to have " no pre-eminence 
above the beast" that perishes 4 ; and that the con- 
sideration of these circumstances may at first sight lead 
to wrong conclusions concerning the value of life ; but 
that God should not be hastily arraigned, for that " he 
that is higher than the highest, regardeth ;•" and from 
this state of things he intimates his expectation of a 
future judgment. That even here, those who " pervert 
judgment," are not satisfied by abundance, " but that 
the sleep of the labouring man is sweet V He re- 
marks, that though the hearts of men be encouraged 
in evil by the delay of God's sentence, and though the 

2 Gregor. Nyssen. Homilia in Eccles. t. i. p. 375. edit. Par. 1638. 
Salen. Dial, in Eccles. Bib. Petav. in Eccles. torn. i. col. 147. Cas- 
tel. Prsef. in Eccles. Collyer's Sacred Interp. vol. i. p. 339. 
Prior's Solomon. 

3 Chap. iii. 12. Solomon recommends a moderate enjoyment of 
the good gifts of Providence, and thinks such enjoyment more 
reasonable than an inordinate pursuit after riches, or than those 
labours from which no advantage should result to ourselves. Vid. 
Eccles. ii. 24. viii. 15. ix. 7 — 9. Acts xiv. 17. 1 Tim. iv. 4. 
Drusius in Eccles. i. 1. Geier. Prol. in Eccles. Horace Carm. lib. 
ii. ode ii. 1. 1 — 4. and Wells's Help to the Understanding of the 
Holy Scriptures. 

4 Chap. iii. 3. 19. 5 Chap, iii.— vi. 



OF THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES. '291 

days of the sinner may be prolonged on earth, yet that, 
finally, it shall be well only with them who fear God 6 . 
He then sums up his exhortations to good deeds, and 
to a remembrance of the Creator in the days of youth, 
" or ever the silver cord of life be loosed, or the golden 
bowl be broken 7 ;" when " the dust shall return to the 
earth, and the spirit unto God who gave it." And the 
inspired teacher bids us " hear the conclusion of the 
whole matter," which is, " to fear God, and to keep his 
commandments ; for this is the whole duty of man : for 
God shall bring every work into judgment, with every 
secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be 
evil 8 ." 

6 Chap. viii. 11—13. 

7 Chap. xii. 5, 6. By the silver cord, of which Solomon speaks 
in this figurative description of old age, some understand the humours 
of the body, which are, as it were, the thread of life. But the most 
judicious writers consider it as an elegant expression for the spinal 
marrow, with the nerves arising from it, and the filaments, fibres, 
and tendons that proceed from them. This white cord is loosened 
(or shrunk up) when it is no longer full of spirits. The golden 
bowl is supposed to mean the pia mater. This membrane, which 
covers the brain, is of a yellowish colour. For farther explana- 
tion of this beautiful allegory, consult commentators, and Smith's 
TYipoKOfxia BaertXi/o/. 

8 De Sacy Avertis. sur l'Eccles. De Launey, sur l'Eccles. xii. 15. 
Harduin Paraph, sur l'Eccles. Witsii Miscel. Sac. lib. i. c. xviii. 
§ 36, 37- p. 227, 8. The whole force of Solomon's reasoning rests 
on the doctrine of a future judgment as maintained in ch. xii. 13, 
14, and before in chap. iii. 17. vii. 1. 12. xi. 9. He had admitted 
that as to this life, there was but " one event to the righteous and 
to the wicked," ch. ix. 1 — 3. The seven following verses in the 
ninth chapter are sometimes supposed to be spoken in the assumed 
character of an Epicurean. Compare ch. ix. 4 — 10. with Wisd. ii. 
1 — 11. But Solomon might, consistently with the scope of his own 
discourse, maintain that the only hope of man is during life, and 

u2 



292 OF THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES. 

In the course of his discussion of this subject, Solo- 
mon deviates into some remarks incidentally suggested, 
in order to preclude objections, and to prevent false 
conclusions. It is, therefore, necessary always to keep 
in mind the purport and design of the discourse, which 
is carried on, not in a chain of regular deductions and 
logical consequences, but in a popular and desultory 
manner ; and the connection of the reasoning is often 
kept up by almost imperceptible links. It is necessary 
also to examine what Solomon states as his first doubts 
and hasty thoughts, corrected by his cooler judgment ; 
and to distinguish what he says for himself, from what 
he urges in an assumed character ; for though the book 
be not, as some have imagined 9 , a dialogue between a 
pious person, and one who maintained notions similar 
to those afterwards professed by the Sadducees ; yet in 
the course of the work the Preacher starts and answers 
objections ; takes up the probable opinions, as it were, 

that in this respect, the most wretched being, a living dog, is better 
than the greatest monarch, a dead lion ; for the living having the 
prospect of death may prepare for it, but the dead have no more 
opportunity of working out a reward ; that the gratification of their 
passions is then perished, and that they have no longer a portion on 
earth. Hence Solomon proceeds to exhort to a discreet enjoyment 
and to active exertion, for that wisdom would find no employment 
in the grave ; that in this life there is no equal distribution, and 
that the time of departure from it is uncertain. Solomon concludes 
the chapter with a lively illustration of the final advantage, and 
deliverance to be produced by humble wisdom, however overlooked 
and despised in the present life. Vid. chap. ix. 4 — 18. 

9 Sentimens de quelques Theolog. sur l'Hist. Crit. du P. R. 
Simon. Amstel. 1682, lett. xii. 272. F. Yeard's Paraphrase on 
Eccles. Lond. 1701. Some writers maintain, that all these passages 
which are considered as objectionable, will admit of a good sense in 
consistency with the design of Solomon's discourse. 



OF THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES. 293 

of an encircling crowd ; and sometimes admits, by way 
of concession, what he afterwards proves to be false l . 
We must be careful, therefore, not to extend those 
principles which Solomon grants, beyond their due 
bounds, nor to understand them in a different sense 
from that in which they are admitted by him. From 
want of due consideration of these circumstances and 
laws, the sentiments of Solomon have often been per- 
verted to countenance false and pernicious opinions 2 ; 
and from want of attention to the design of the book, 
as here described, some writers have had recourse to 
very extraordinary means of reconciling particular pas- 
sages with the main scope and pious conclusion of the 
work. Hence to vindicate it from any imputations of 
bad tendency, Olympiodorus maintained that Solomon 
speaks only of natural things in the book, though he 
intersperses a few moral sentiments ; and St. Augustin 
endeavours to explain it by having recourse to allegory ; 
but such solutions are not worthy of much attention ; 
and what has been said will sufficiently account for all 
difficulties that may occur in considering the work. 
We need but recollect, that the style of the book is 
particularly obscure and vague, though unadorned and 
prosaic ; that the question itself which is considered, is 
embarrassed with difficulties ; and that the desultory 
mode of argument is liable to be mistaken, where 
various opinions are introduced ; and when the author 

1 Castel. Praef. in Eccles. Not. Philol. Adv. Script. Loc. in 
Eccles. iii. Dubardin. Reflect. Moral, sur l'Eccles. Gregor. Mag. 
dial. iv. c. iv. torn. iii."p. 315. 

2 Witsius Miscel. Sac. lib. i. c. xviii. p. 226. edit. Amstel. 1695. 
R. Gerherd. in Exeg. Loc. de Script, p. 156. and Praef. in Com. 
t. iii. s. 231. Lowth's Praelect. Poet. 24. 



294 OF THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES. 

diversifies his character, without accurately discrimi- 
nating serious from ironical remarks, or objections from 
his answers. It must, however, be wilful delusion, or 
perverse sophistry, which selects partial extracts for 
the encouragement of sin, where the dispassionate and 
rational enquirer after truth will find genuine wisdom 
and deliberate piety. 






OF THE 



SONG OF SOLOMON 



The Talmudists have attributed this Book to Heze- 
kiah l ; some writers, with as little reason, have as- 
signed it to Isaiah ; and others to Ezra. There are, 
however, no grounds that should influence us to reject 
the authority of the Hebrew title 2 , which ascribes it to 
Solomon ; and, indeed, it is now almost universally 
allowed to have been the work of that monarch, and 
some consider it as his Epithalamium, or Marriage 
Song 3 , composed on the celebration of his nuptials 
with a very beautiful woman, called Shulamite, as 
some suppose, the daughter of Pharaoh, the favourite 
and distinguished wife of Solomon 4 , or as others 

1 Bava Bathra. R. Moses Kimchi. 

2 The Chaldee Paraphrase has this title, " The Songs and Hymns 
which Solomon the Prophet, the King of Israel, uttered in the spirit 
of Prophecy before the Lord." Some writers consider the Song as 
composed of a series of unconnected idyls. 

3 Chap. i. 4. ii. 16. iii. 4. 7. 11. Vid. also, chap. viii. 5. where 
Michaelis, instead of " thy mother brought thee forth," reads, " thy 
mother betrothed thee." Vid. Not. in Lowth's Preelect. 30. 

4 1 Kings iii. 1—7. ix. 16—24. Cant. vi. 13. Cornel, a Lapid. 
Prol. c. i. Lightfoot, Chron. &c. p. 5. Harmer's Com. p. 27 — 44. 
There is some ground to maintain that the work was written long 



296 OF THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 

conceive, a Jewish wife, called a Salemitess (from 
Salem 5 ). 

Solomon was eminently skilful in the composition of 
songs, and he is related to have produced above a 
thousand 6 ; of which number, probably, this only was 
attributed to the suggestion of the Holy Spirit, as it 
alone has escaped the waste of time 7 , by being pre- 
served in the consecrated volume of the Scriptures; 
into which it was received as unquestionably authentic : 
and it has since been uniformly considered as canonical 
by the Christian Church. 

after the marriage with Pharaoh's daughter ; vii. 4. compare with 
1 Kings vi. 38. vii. 2. iii. 1. Hence some have imagined her to be 
a Jewish, and some a Tyrian woman. The bride's mother is men- 
tioned as at the court of Solomon; ch. iii. 4. viii. 2 — 5. and her 
youngest sister is spoken of, ch. viii. 8 ; see Dr. Percy's new Trans- 
lation of Solomon's Song. Harmer, however, supposes a former 
wife of Solomon to speak in the first instances, and that the vine- 
yard mentioned in ch. viii. 12. was Gezer, which Pharaoh is said in 
1 Kings ix. 16, 17. to have " given for a present unto his daughter, 
Solomon's wife." The bride calls herself black, though she repre- 
sents her darkness as the consequence of exposure to the sun ; and 
Volney maintains, from a passage in Herodotus, and his own ob- 
servation, that the ancient Egyptians were black. Voyage en Syrie 
et Egypt, vol. i. p. 175. If a Gentile woman, she was more appo- 
sitely a figure of the Gentile church ; and Patrick has fancifully 
remarked, that as the word Sechora denotes that duskiness which 
precedes the morning dawn, it may figuratively represent the Gentile 
darkness which was dispersed before the rising of the Gospel light. 
The word Shulamite is, perhaps, derived from that of Solomon. Vid. 
R. Jonathan in Talkut. ad 1. Raam iii. fol. 28. col. 3. 
6 Cant. iii. 4 — 10. viii. 5. 

6 1 Kings iv. 32. Eccles. xii. 9. In the Septuagint they are 
said to have been 5000. 

7 Except, perhaps, some received into the book of Psalms, as pos- 
sibly the cxxviith. cxxviiith. and cxxxiind. Vid. Patrick. 



OF THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 297 

The royal author appears, in the spirit of a period 
familiar with types, to have designed to render a cere- 
monial appointment descriptive of a spiritual concern : 
and Bishop Lowth has with much probability deter- 
mined, that the song is a mystical allegory ; of that 
sort which induces a more sublime sense on historical 
truth, and which, by the description of human events, 
shadows out divine circumstances 8 . The sacred writers 
were, by God's condescension, authorized to illustrate 
his strict and intimate relation to the church by the 
figure of a marriage 9 ; and the emblem must have 
been strikingly becoming, and expressive to the con- 
ceptions of the Jews, since they annexed notions of 
peculiar mystery to this appointment, and imagined 
that the marriage union was a counterpart representa- 
tion of some original pattern in heaven. Hence was it 
performed among them with very peculiar ceremonies 
and solemnity ; with every thing that could give dig- 
nity and importance to its rites \ Solomon, therefore, 
in celebrating the circumstances of his marriage, was 
naturally led by a chain of correspondent reflections, to 

8 Lowth's Prael. Poet. 31. Some have conceived it to be entirely 
spiritual. Calovius Annotata ad Canticum. August, de Civit. Dei, 
lib. xvii. cap. xx. p. 485. Bernard Serm. i. in Cant. p. 1273. vol. 
i. edit. Paris, 1719. Glass. Philol. Sac. lib. v. cap. xx. p. 1959. 
edit. Lips. 1713 : but it apparently had a reference to an actual 
marriage. The book is full of allusions to the circumstances of the 
marriage ceremony among the Jews. There are particulars which 
apply only to the literal sense, as there are others which correspond 
only with the figurative interpretation. 

9 Ezek. xvi. xxiii. 1 — 3. 5 — 44. Isaiah lxii. 5. Hosea iii. Matt. 
ix. 15. John iii. 29. 

1 Cud worth's Tipheret, and Malcuth. and Patrick's Preface. Selden 
Uxor Ebraica. Buxtorf, &c. 



298 OF THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 

consider that spiritual connexion which it was often 
employed to symbolize ; and the idea must have been 
more forcibly suggested to him, as he had recently 
built, or was at this period preparing to build, a temple 
to God, and thereby to furnish a visible representation 
of the Hebrew church. 

If this account be admitted, there is no reason why 
we should not suppose that the Holy Spirit might have 
assisted Solomon to render this spiritual allegory pro- 
phetic of that future connexion which was to subsist 
with more immediate intercourse between Christ and 
the church, which he should personally consecrate as 
his bride. If the predominant idea which operated on 
the mind of Solomon, was only that of an affinity which 
at all times was supposed to exist between God and 
the Hebrew church ; yet as that church was itself the 
type of a more perfect institution, the descriptive re- 
presentation of Solomon had necessarily a prophetic 
character; and the sacred Spirit seems to have often 
suggested allusions and expressions more adapted to 
the second, than to the first establishment. Whether 
the song, however, were typically or directly prophetic, 
it is unquestionable that this elegant composition had 
a predictive as well as a figurative character. The 
whole of it is a thin veil of allegory thrown over a spi- 
ritual alliance ; and we discover every where, through 
the transparent types of Solomon and his bride, the 
characters of Christ, and his personified church ; pour- 
trayed in the eastern style not easily translated, with 
those graces and embellishments which are most lovely 
and engaging to the human eye. 

This spiritual allegory, thus worked up by Solomon 
to its highest perfection, was very consistent with the 



OF THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 299 

prophetic style, which was accustomed to predict evan- 
gelical blessings by such parabolical figures ; and Solo- 
mon is by some supposed to have been more imme- 
diately presented with a pattern for this allusive 
representation by the author of the forty-fifth Psalm, 
who describes, in a compendious allegory, the same 
future connexion between Christ and his church \ 

It was the want of sufficient attention to this charac- 
ter in the Song of Solomon, which is, perhaps, the most 
figurative part of Scripture, that first induced the rab- 
binical writers to dispute its authority, in contradiction 
to the sentiment of the earlier Jews, who never ques- 
tioned its title to a place in the canon 3 . It must, 
likewise, have been a perverse disregard to its spiritual 
import, which occasioned even some Christian authors 
to consider it with unbecoming and irreverent free- 

2 The forty-fifth Psalm has not, however, any very obvious and 
direct application to the character and circumstances of Solomon ; 
and if it was written on the occasion of Solomon's marriage with the 
daughter of Pharaoh, the immediate subject is referred to, only by 
slight and doubtful allusions. Its principal, if not its direct object, 
seems to be the Messiah riding on to victory ; and establishing, in 
his ineffable union with the Church (described as a bride), his final 
triumph. See the Psalm, ver. 2. compare with Luke iv. 22. ver. 3. 
with Heb. iv. 12. ver. 4. with Rev. vi. 2. ver. 6 and 7. with Heb. 
i. 8, 9. ver 17. with 1 Peter ii. 9. See also, Isaiah lxiii. 1 — 6. 
Bishop Horsley's Sermons, vol. i. p. 83. 

3 Though not expressly mentioned by Philo or Josephus, it must 
have been one of the twenty-two books reckoned as canonical by 
the latter. It was in the earliest catalogues of the sacred books re- 
ceived by the Christian church, in that of Melito, in his letter written 
to Onesimus, about a. d. 140. and in Origen's catalogue. Vid. 
Euseb. Hist. lib. iv. cap. xxvi. lib. vi. cap. xxv. and in the canon 
received by the council of Laodicea, can. 59. 

3 



300 OF THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 

dom 4 . It has been weakly objected, by those who 
would invalidate its pretensions, that the name of God 
is not mentioned throughout the work; but this ob- 
servation must have arisen from want of due reflection 
on the design of the author, which was to adumbrate 
Divine instruction, and not directly to inculcate what 
other parts of Scripture so abundantly describe. There 
is, in fact, no reason to question its pretensions to be 
considered as an inspired book, since it was indispu- 
tably in the Hebrew canon and translated into Greek ; 
and is seemingly referred to, if not absolutely cited by 
Christ and his apostles 5 , who, as well as the sacred 
writers of the Old Testament 6 , take up its allusions, 
and pursue its allegory 7 . 

But though the work be certainly an allegorical 
representation, it must be confessed that many learned 
men, in an unrestrained eagerness to explain the song, 
even in its minutest and most obscure particulars, have 
too far indulged their imaginations ; and by endeavour- 
ing too nicely to reconcile the literal with the spiritual 
sense, have been led beyond the boundaries which a 

4 As Grotius, and even the learned Michaelis, who has certainly 
given too much scope to fancy in his remarks on this book. Vid. Not. 
in Lowth's Praelect. 30. 

5 Comp. Cant. iv. 7. with Ephes. v. 27. Cant. viii. 11. with Matt. 
xxi. 33. Cant. i. 4. with John vi. 44. Cant. v. 2. with Revel, iii. 20. 
Cant. vii. 1. with Isaiah lii. 7. See also, John iii. 29. et J. C. 
Wolfii Bibliothec. Hebrse. pars 2. de Libris Biblicis, p. 105. edit. 
Hamburg, 1721. Huetius, Prop. iv. &c. 

6 Isaiah liv. 5. lxi. 10. lxii. 4, 5. Ezek. xvi. and xxiii. Hos. ii. 
16. 19. and Prophets, passim. 

7 Matt. ix. 15. xxii. 2. 25. John iii. 29. 2 Cor. xi. 2. Gal. iv. 
22—31. Ephes. v. 23—27. Revel, xix. 7. xxii. 17. 



OF THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 30 J 

reverence for the sacred writings should ever prescribe. 
The representations which the inspired writers afford 
concerning the mystical relation between Christ and 
his church 8 , though well accommodated to our appre- 
hensions, by the allusion of a marriage union, are too 
general to illustrate every particular contained in this 
poem ; which may be supposed to have been inten- 
tionally decorated with some ornaments appropriate to 
the literal construction. When the general analogy is 
obvious, we are not always to expect minute resem- 
blance, and should not be too curious in seeking for 
obscure and recondite allusions. The Jews prudently 
forbad their children to read it till their judgment was 
matured 9 , lest, in the fervour of youth, they should 
give too wide a scope to fancy, and interpret to a bad 
sense the allusive imagery and spiritual ideas of Solo- 
mon. The book, though placed last in order of his 
w r orks, appears to have been written by that monarch 
in his youth ; in the full warmth of a luxuriant imagi- 
nation 1 . Solomon, in the glow of an inspired fancy, 
and unsuspicious of misconception or deliberate per- 
version, describes God and his church, with their re- 
spective attributes and graces, under colourings fami- 
liar and agreeable to mankind, and exhibits their ardent 
affection under the authorized figures of earthly love. 

8 Ephes. v. 32. 

9 And the same restriction prevailed in the primitive Christian 
church. Vid. Origen. Prol. in Canticum, torn. iii. p. 32. Hieron. 
in Ezech. Prolog, in Ezek. torn. iii. p. 698. Theodor. Oper. torn. i. 
p. 998. Wolf. Bib. Hebr. p. 126. 

1 Solomon married Pharaoh's daughter towards the beginning of 
his reign. Vid. 1 Kings iii. 1. 



302 OF THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 

No similitude, indeed, could be chosen so elegant and 
apposite for the illustration of this intimate and spi- 
ritual alliance, as the marriage union : if considered in 
the chaste simplicity of its first institution ; or under 
the interesting circumstances with which it was esta- 
blished among the Jews 2 . 

Those who imagine that Solomon has introduced into 
this hymeneal song, some representations inconsistent 
with the refinement of spiritual allegory, do not suffi- 
ciently consider that the strongest affections of the 
mind, if properly directed, are chaste and honourable. 
The reciprocal description of the bridegroom and bride, 
and the impassioned language in which they expressed 
their mutual attachment, are compatible with the 
strictest purity of imagination ; and are employed to 
represent respectively, spiritual perfections, and spiri- 
tual passions, with the greatest propriety, though with 
occasional obscurity of allusion. The figures and ex- 
pressions of Solomon have, indeed, lost their original 
dignity and decorum, because they have in later times 
been often abused to a fulsome and depraved sense. 
The judicious reader will, however, carefully discrimi- 
nate between the genuine import of language, and its 
perverted application. The sentiments, likewise, of 
Solomon, were unquestionably chastened with that 
reserve and delicacy which, among the Jews, was at- 
tached to the consideration of the marriage union ; and 
the book does not appear to contain any reference 



2 Calmet. Dissert, sur les Manages des Hebreux. See also, Sir 
William Jones's Dissertation on the Mystical Poetry of the Persians 
and the Hindus. Asiat. Research, vol. iii. 



OF THE -SONG OF SOLOMON. 303 

offensive to that character of the institution which 
rendered it an apt representation of the sacred con- 
nexion 3 . 

This book may be considered, as to its form, as a 
dramatic poem of the pastoral kind. There is a suc- 
cession of time, and a change of place, to different parts 
of the palace and royal gardens. The personages in- 
troduced as speakers are the bridegroom and bride, 
with their respective attendants; together, as some 
suppose, with the sister of the bride 4 ; and if the in- 
genious theory of Harmer be admitted, the first and 
degraded wife of Solomon 5 , whom he regards as the 
figure of the Jewish church. There is certainly an 
interchange of dialogue, carried on in a wild and di- 
gressive manner, and the speeches are characteristic, 
and adapted to the persons with appropriate elegance. 
The companions of the bride compose a kind of chorus, 
which seems to bear some resemblance to that which 
afterwards sustained so important a part in the Grecian 
tragedy 6 . Solomon and his queen sometimes speak in 

3 Origen. ap. Hieron. torn. v. p. 603. edit. Paris, 1706. Greg. 
Nazianz. Orat. i. p. 98. torn. ii. edit. Par. 1630. 

4 If the bride herself be considered as the figure of the Christian 
church at Jerusalem, the sister may be supposed to represent the 
Gentile church rising into notice. The bridegroom, when consulted 
upon what should be done for this sister, gives a figurative account 
of the measures which should be taken to preserve her purity and 
safety. Some attribute the tenth verse to the bride ; and some to 
the sister, professing to have derived strength from the countenance 
of the bridegroom. Vid. chap. viii. 8 — 10. 

5 Chap. ii. 5. Hi. 1. Harm. Com. p. 44, &~c. 

6 The original chorus of the Greeks, which was the foundation on 
which their drama was built, was an institution of a religious character ; 
and it might possibly have been derived from an intimation of some 



304 OF THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 

assumed characters, and represent themselves under 
fictitious circumstances. They descend, as it were, 
from the throne ; and adopt with the pastoral dress, 
that simplicity of language which is favourable to the 
communication of their sentiments 7 . The style, how- 
ever, is not more simple than elegant. The poem, in- 
deed, abounds throughout with beauties, and presents 
everywhere a delightful and romantic display of nature, 
painted at its most interesting season 8 , with all the 
enthusiasm of poetry, and described with every orna- 
ment that an inventive fancy could furnish. The 
images that embellish it, are chiefly drawn from the 
state of pastoral life in which the Jews were much 
occupied ; and to which Solomon, mindful of his fa- 
ther's condition, must have looked with peculiar fond- 
sacred appointment among the Jews, whose singers in the temple 
service composed a sort of chorus. 

7 This book was certainly known to Theocritus, who was a con- 
temporary with the Septuagint translators ; and who might have 
been made acquainted with it by Ptolemy Philadelphus, whose 
patronage and regard for literature the poet celebrates. It is evident 
that many expressions, images, and sentiments in the Idyllia, are 
copied from the sacred poem. Comp. Cant. i. 9. with Theoc. xviii. 
30. Cant. vi. 10. with Theoc. xviii. 26. Cant. iv. 11. with Theoc. 
xx. 26, 27. Cant. iv. 15. with Theoc. i. 7, 8. Cant. ii. 15. with 
Theoc. i. 48, 49. Cant. i. 7. with Theoc. ii. 69. Cant. v. 2. with 
Theoc. ii. 127. Cant. viii. 6, 7. with Theoc. ii. 133, 134. and 
Theoc. vii. 56. Cant. ii. 8, 9. with Theoc. viii 88, 89. Cant. viii. 
7. with Theoc. xxiii. 25, 26. Vid. Joan. Euseb. de Orig. Sacr. 
Scrip, lib. vii. c. 7. p. 201. edit. Lugdun. 1641. Wesley in Job, 
Diss. iv. 

8 Harmer, from a consideration of the scenery here described, sup- 
poses the marriage to have been celebrated in the spring, when " the 
tender grape" began to appear, towards the latter end of April. See 
Com. p. 154, 155. 



OF THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 305 

ness. It is justly entitled, " a song of songs," or most 
excellent song ; as superior to any composition that an 
uninspired writer could ever have produced ; a song 
which, if properly understood, must tend to purify the 
mind, and to elevate the affections from earthly to 
heavenly things. The book is certainly composed with 
metrical arrangement. The Jews admit its title to be 
considered as a poem, though not, indeed, on account 
of its structure or measure, but because they regard it 
as a parable, which, according to Abarbenel, constitutes 
one species of the canticle, or song 9 . 

There have been many different divisions of the 
book ; some conceive that it naturally breaks out into 
seven parts ; and the learned Bossuet has observed that 
it describes the seven days which the nuptial ceremony ', 
(as indeed, almost all solemnities among the Jews) 
lasted ; during which time select virgins attended the 
bride, as the bridegroom was accompanied by his cho- 
sen friends 2 . 



9 The Masoretic writers, who seem to have been but little ac- 
quainted with the nature of the ancient Hebrew measure, admitted 
that the Psalms, Proverbs, and Job, were metrical, and marked them 
particularly as such. But other books, equally metrical, as the Can- 
ticles, and the Lamentations, they noted with prosaic accentuation ; 
and the Jews consider these books as prosaic compositions. Vid. 
Mantissa. Diss, ad Lib. Cosri, p. 413. 

1 Gen. xxix. 27. Judg. xiv. 15. 17. Tobit viii. 19, 20. 

2 Cant. i. 4. ii. 7. v. 1. Judg. xiv. 11. Psalm xlv. 14. Matt. 
ix. 15. xxv. 1. John iii. 29. The friends of the bridegroom may 
be considered as the representatives of angels, prophets, and apos- 
tles ; and the friends of the bride are figurative, perhaps, of the 
followers of the church. They are called the daughters of Jeru- 
salem. 

X 



30G OF THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 

Bossuet's distribution of the work is as follows 3 . 
The first day, chap. i. ii. 6. 

second day, chap. ii. 7. 17. 

third day, chap. iii. - v. 1. 

fourth day, chap. v. 2. — — vi. 9. 

fifth day, chap. vi. 10. vii. 11. 

sixth day, chap. vii. 12. viii. 3. 

seventh day, chap. viii. 4. 14. 

Bossuet supposes the seventh day to be the sabbath, 
because the bridegroom is not represented as going 
out to his usual occupations. This division is at least 
probable, and it throws some light on the book. Some 
have conceived 4 , that these periods are figurative of 
seven analogous and correspondent ages that may be 
supposed to extend from Christ to the end of the 
world : which is a very unauthorized conjecture, and 
justly rejected by the most judicious commentators. 

3 Bossuet's Prsef. et Com. in Cant, and New Trans, of Solomon's 
Song : the learned author of which characterizes the seven days by 
a different division. 

4 As Cocceius. 



GENERAL PREFACE 



TO Till 



PROPHETS. 



The second of those great divisions under which the 
Jews classed the books of the Old Testament was that 
of the prophets '. This, as has been before observed 2 , 
comprehended originally thirteen books ; but the Tal- 
mudical doctors 3 rejecting Ruth, Job, Lamentations, 
Daniel, Esther, Ezra, Nehemiah, and the Chronicles, 
as hagiographical, reckon only eight prophetical books ; 
calling those of Joshua, of Judges, of Samuel, and of 
Kings, the four books of the former prophets ; and 
those of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the twelve 
lesser Prophets (comprised in one) as the four books 
of the later Prophets. By these means they deprive 
some books of a rank to which they are entitled ; and 
by parting Ruth, Nehemiah, and Lamentations from 
the books to which they were severally united, enlarge 
the apparent number of their canonical books. As the 
rabbinical notions concerning the degrees of inspiration 
cannot be allowed to affect the dignity of any of the 

1 Joseph, cont. Apion. lib. i. p. 1333. edit. Hudson. 

2 Introduct. p. 9. 3 Bava Bathra, c. i. 

x 2 



308 GENERAL PREFACE 

sacred writings 4 ; and as the pretensions of every book 
are severally considered in a separate chapter, it is un- 
necessary to examine the propriety of such an arrange- 
ment in this preface ; in which it is designed to treat 
in a general way, of the character of the prophets, and 
of the nature and evidence of that inspiration, under 
the influence of which they wrote 5 . 

The Prophets were those illustrious persons who 
were raised up by God among the Israelites, as the 
ministers of his dispensations. They flourished in a 
continued succession for above a thousand years 6 ; all 
co-operating in the same designs, and conspiring in one 
spirit to deliver the same doctrines, and to prophesy 
concerning the same future blessings. Moses, the first 
and greatest of the Prophets, having established God's 
first covenant, those who followed him were employed 
in explaining its nature ; in opening its spiritual mean- 
ing ; in instructing the Jews ; and in preparing them 
for the reception of that second dispensation 7 which 
the former prefigured. Their pretensions to be con- 
sidered as God's appointed servants, were demonstrated 
by the unimpeachable integrity of their characters ; by 
the intrinsic excellence and tendency of their instruc- 
tion 8 : and by the disinterested zeal, and undaunted 
fortitude 9 , with which they persevered in their great 
designs. Their claims were still farther confirmed by 

4 Glassius Disput. I. in Psalm ex. 

5 Introduction, p. 9, 10. 

6 Luke i. 70. reckoning from Moses to Malachi. 

7 Matt. xi. 13. 1 Mace. iv. 46. Cosri Maam. iii. § 39. Massec. 
Sotah, cap. ult. Maimon. Bartiner. Gem. Sanh. cap. i. § 3. 

8 Deut. xiii. 1—3. 

9 Origen, cont. Cels. lib. vii. p. 336. edit. Cant. 



TO THE PROPHETS. 309 

the miraculous proofs which they displayed of Divine 
support \ and by the immediate completion of many 
less important predictions which they uttered 2 . Such 
were the credentials of their exalted character, which 
the Prophets brought forward to their contemporaries ; 
and we, who having lived to witness the appearance of 
the second dispensation, can look back to the connec- 
tion which subsisted between the two covenants, receive 
additional evidence of the inspiration of the prophets, 
in the attestations of our Saviour and his apostles 3 ; 
and in the retrospect of a germinant and gradually 
maturing scheme of prophecy, connected in all its 
parts, and ratified in the accomplishment of its great 
object, the advent of the Messiah. We have still 
farther incontrovertible proof of the Divine appoint- 
ment of these holy men, in the numerous predictions 
which in these later days are fulfilled, and in those 
which still, under our own eyes, continue to receive 
their completion. 

Though many persons are mentioned in Scripture as 
Prophets, and the Talmudists reckon up fifty-five 4 , 
whom they conceive to have been entitled to this dis- 
tinction, we are concerned only with those whose books 
have been admitted into the canon ; who are eminently 
styled prophets 5 , as they were unquestionably inspired 

1 Josh. x. 13. 1 Sam. xii. 14. 18. 2 Kings i. 10. Isa. xxxviii. 8. 

2 DeuL xviii. 22. 1 Sam. ix. 6. 1 Kings xiii. 3. Isa. xlii. 9. 
Jerem. xxviii. 9. Ezek. xxxiii. 33. 

3 Luke i. 70. xviii. 31. Acts vii. 42. xxiv. 14. Rom. xvi. 26. 
Ephes. ii. 20. 2 Pet. i. 21. 

4 Including seven prophetesses. Vid. Gem. Mass. Megil. 

6 YIpotyrjrrjQ, Prophet, from irpo^-q^iiy to foretel. The sacred wri- 
ters applied the word NO J, Nabia, with great latitude, as well to 



310 GENERAL PREFACE 

with the knowledge of future events ; whose writings 
have been preserved for the permanent advantage of 
the church, as descriptive of the economy of the Divine 
government, as fraught with the lessons of revealed 
wisdom, and as bearing incontestable evidence to the 
truth and pretensions of the christian religion. 

The nature and character of that inspiration by which 
the prophets were enabled to communicate Divine in- 
structions and predictions, have been the subject of 
much disquisition. With respect to the mode by which 
the Holy Spirit might operate on the understanding of 
its agents, when employed in the composition of sacred 
writ, we can form no precise ideas, as we have no 
acquired experience to assist our conceptions ; we can 
judge of it only by its effects, for of the invisible agency 
of a Divine power, we can have no adequate apprehen- 
sion. There is cause, indeed, to suppose that the spirit 
operated chiefly on the reasoning faculties of the mind, 
however the imagination might be kindled by its in- 
fluence. It appears rather to have enlightened the 
intellect than to have inflamed the fancy 6 . The Pro- 
phets themselves, as men, neither visionary nor enthu- 
siastic in their previous character, and as not acting 
under the bias of any gloomy or superstitious notions, 
were not liable to be deceived by the delusions of a 

false prophets, as to those idolatrous priests whom they called pro- 
phets of the grove. Vide 1 Kings xviii. 19. 22. It appears, like- 
wise, to have been sometimes used in the same loose sense as that 
in which lipo^rriQ is employed by St. Paul synonymously with the 
Latin word Vates, a musician, a poet, or prophet. Vide Titus i. 12. 
Selden, de Synedr. lib. iii. c. 6. torn. i. p. 1650. Maimon. More 
Nevoch, p. iii. c. xxix. 

6 Maimon. More Nevoch^ p. ii. c. xxxvi. p. 292. edit. Buxtorf. 
1629. 






TO THE PROPHETS. 311 

clouded or intemperate imagination 7 . They must, 
themselves, by the strong effects of the Divine impulse, 
have been sensible of a supernatural control, and they 
must have been capable of deciding on its character by 
the clear and distinct impressions which they received. 
They could not but have been convinced of their own 
inspiration by the discoveries of an enlightened mind, 
as well as by that spontaneous and unwonted facility 
with which they delivered their important convictions. 
The people also had a criterion to judge of the truth of 
their pretensions ; since if the signs of immediate ac- 
complishment, which they uttered, were not fulfilled, 
or if their instructions were delivered in the name of 
false divinities, and with design to promote -the service 
of other gods, they were to be rejected 8 . 

As to the extent of this inspiration, and whether we 
are to consider it as general or restricted, it must be 
remarked, that as it would be absurd to suppose that 
the Spirit guided the prophets only by occasional and 
desultory starts, and partially enlightened them by 
imperfect communications, we cannot but admit them 
to have been uniformly under its influence ; and, in 
consequence, to have been invariably preserved from 
deception and error, when engaged in the composition 
of the sacred books. The Spirit did not certainly de- 
prive them of the use of their faculties, so as to render 
them the mere instruments of conveying the voice of 
God ; but it superintended and guided them in the 
exercise of their own understandings ; sometimes in- 
structing them by immediate revelation, and sometimes 

7 Geom. Schab. Zohar. col. 408. 
a Deut. xiii. 1—3. xviii. 20—22. 



312 GENERAL PREFACE 

directing them in the mode of imparting to others that 
knowledge which they had derived from the ordinary- 
sources of intelligence 9 . 

We are authorised, it is true, by Scripture, to con- 
clude that the Holy Ghost (who, in his appropriate 
character, was more immediately an agent in commu- 
nicating inspiration '), did, indeed, "speak by the pro- 
phets ;" but we are not, therefore, to consider the spirit 
of inspiration as one person of the ever-glorious Trinity, 
dictating to the sacred writers every sentence and ex- 
pression of Scripture ; but rather as a peculiar gift of 
the Holy Ghost, a Divine influence which opened their 
understandings to a limited discernment of the will of 
God. 

This miraculous power may be represented to our 
conceptions, as to its effects, under different points of 
view ; it may be described, first, as analogous to a light 
shining on the minds of the prophets, and dispersing 
those mists, which the corruption of human nature had 
engendered ; which enabled them to read those natural 
principles that were originally engraven on the mind ; 
which awakened their faculties to a more lively percep- 
tion of truth, and assisted their reason to act free from 
prejudice and restraint. It must be considered still 
farther, as instructing them by an influx of Divine 
knowledge, in the truths which could be obtained only 
by immediate information from God ; or under one 
collective description, it may be represented as guiding 
and conducting the prophets, by various means to the 



9 Seeker's first Sermon on the inspiration of Scripture. 
1 Mark xii. 36. Acts i. 16. xxviii. 25. Heb. iii. 7. ix. 8. 2 Pet. 
i. 21. 






TO THE PROPHETS. 313 

apprehension of all requisite truth, human and Divine. 
When they wrote historically, there could be no ne- 
cessity for a revelation of events of which the know- 
ledge might be obtained by their own observation and 
inquiries 2 . They recorded what they themselves had 
seen, or on some occasions, what they had received 
from unquestionable documents, or credible witnesses, 
the Spirit, indeed, bearing testimony. The prophets 
generally take care themselves to inform us what they 
derived immediately from God : and by different modes 
of expression to distinguish what they speak in their 
own characters as recording historical events, or even 
as reasoning from the doctrines which had been re- 
vealed unto them. Still, however, it is not inconsis- 
tent to maintain that they wrote under the influence 
of uniform inspiration ; that is, they were uniformly 
guided by a Divine spirit, which enabled them, by 
various means of intelligence, to discover truth ; and 
to select and record with sincerity what might be sub- 
servient to their designs. And whenever they com- 
municated Divine instruction concerning the attributes 
and designs of God, describing particulars which could 
not be the objects of human sagacity or memory ; they 
must have derived their knowledge by positive revela- 
tion from above 3 . 

Divine revelations were obtained by various ways ; 

2 The prophets were, however, sometimes enabled to describe past 
events by immediate revelation ; and the' word prophecy is applied 
to the discovery of past circumstances thus obtained. Vide 1 Sam. 
ix. 20. 2 Kings v. 25, 26. Dan. iv. 20. John iv. 18, 19. Huet. 
Demonstrat. Evan. Defin. iv. p. 6. Witsius de Prophet, lib. i. cap. ii. 

8 Stackhouse's Preface to the Hist, of Bible, p. 26. 
I 



314 GENERAL PREFACE 

for without dilating on the internal irradiation above 
mentioned, and without following the Jewish writers 4 
in their distinctions concerning the different degrees 
of inspiration which assisted the authors in the com- 
position of the prophetical or hagiographical books 
respectively 5 , we may observe, in agreement with the 
accounts of Scripture, that though the Divine revela- 
tions were all equally infallible, yet that a greater de- 
gree of illumination was imparted to some persons than 
to others 6 ; and that this conferred a proportionate 
dignity on the prophet so favoured. The more im- 
portant communications were likewise sometimes fur- 
nished with more conspicuous evidence of revelation, 
as the dispensation imparted to Moses was introduced 
with a correspondent display, and superior solemnity. 
The predictions of Moses were not more certainly ful- 
filled than those uttered by Isaiah, yet is the former 
personage positively declared in Scripture by the ex- 
pression of having conversed with God " face to face 7 ," 
to have been honoured by a higher revelation, than was 
Isaiah, or any subsequent prophet, whose illumination 
was obtained by dreams or visions. 

The revelations which are related in Scripture to 

4 The most learned Jews admit three degrees of inspiration. 1. 
The Gradus Mosaicus. 2. That which is peculiarly called pro- 
phecy, and which was obtained by dreams and visions. And 3. 
That which they call Ruach Hakkodesh, by which they suppose the 
Hagiographi to have been inspired. The Jewish notions, however, 
though sometimes just, are frequently very fanciful. Vide Maimon. 
More Nevoch, pt. ii. c, xlv. p. 315. 

5 Abarbenel, in Esaiah. ch. iv. Maimon. de Fund. Leg. c. vii. 

6 Numb. xii. 8. Deut. xxxiv. 10. 2 Kings ii. 9. Heb. i. 1. 

7 Exod. xxxiii. 11. 



TO THE PROPHETS. 315 

have been communicated to the Patriarch, sometimes 
without any specification of an intermediate agent, and 
sometimes by the ministry of angels, have been fre- 
quently supposed to have been conveyed in dreams and 
visions, without any actual appearance. But certainly 
some of the relations respecting these, cannot but be un- 
derstood in a real and historical sense ; as that, for in- 
stance, in which God is described as having addressed 
Adam in Paradise 8 ; and that in which the angels are 
represented to have appeared to, and to have conversed 
with Abraham 9 ; in both of which, as well as in some 
other cases ', it must be admitted that the absolute 
appearance of some Divine personage, the Deity, or his 
angelical representative, is intended in a strict and 
positive sense ; as it should seem, likewise, that God 
sometimes addressed his servants by a voice from hea- 

8 Gen. iii. 8. 

9 Gen. xviii. also Gen. xvii. 1 — 3. It is probable that wherever 
God is said to have appeared, it is to be understood that he appeared 
by some messenger, the representative of the Divine majesty, and 
authorised to speak in God's name ; this may be collected from John 
i. 18. andv. 37. Vid. Gen. xvi. 7. 13. xxii. 1. 11. xxxii. 24—30. 
Judges vi. 11 — 23. and other places, where the Lord and the angel 
are words interchangeably used. Vid. August, de Trinit. lib. 1. c. 
xi. p. 535. vol. viii. It was almost universally believed, in the 
Christian church, in the earlier ages, that all those Divine appear- 
ances described in the Old Testament, whether actual, or in vision, 
were made by the Logos, or second person of the Trinity. Comp. 
Isaiah vi. 1. with John xii. 41. Vid. Bull's Defens. Fid. Nic. c. i. 
§ I. The ancient Jews, likewise, supposed that the intended Mes- 
siah appeared as the representative of Jehovah. Vid. Allix. Judg. 
of the Jew. Church, ch. xiii. xiv. xv. Just. Mart. Dialog. Pars i. 
p. 249—266. Pars ii. p. 408. edit. Thirlb. 

1 Numb. xxii. 22—35. 



316 GENERAL PREFACE 

ven 2 , without any visible manifestation of himself or 
his angel. 

When communications were obtained from an abso- 
lute converse with the Deity, every particular contained 
in them must have been precisely and distinctly ascer- 
tained. And hence the instructions imparted to Moses 
were so remarkably perspicuous and explicit. No suc- 
ceeding prophet under the Jewish dispensation could, 
indeed, boast of such intimate and unreserved corres- 
pondence with the Deity as that illustrious Legislator 
enjoyed; though unquestionably some were favoured 
with Divine revelations imparted by the ministry of 
angels ; who seem, from the accounts of Scripture, 
absolutely to have appeared and conversed with them 3 . 

The Jewish writers, however, consider all these re- 
lations as descriptive of visionary representations ; 
maintaining that God comprehended in his address to 
Aaron and Miriam, every mode of revelation by which 
he designed to enlighten the Prophets that should suc- 
ceed to Moses 4 . 

2 Exod. xx. 22. Deut. iv. 12. This mode of revelation was 
called by the Jews i?lp m, Bath Col, Filia Vocis, the daughter voice, 
or daughter of a voice, because it succeeded the oracular voice from 
the mercy-seat, or because when a voice or thunder proceeded from 
heaven, an echo, or another voice came out of it. Prideaux sup- 
poses superstitious practices to have been grounded on the Jewish 
notions with respect to this voice, which, however, certainly distin- 
guished the dawn of the Gospel dispensation. Vid. Matt. iii. 17. 
xvii. 5. John xii. 28, 29. Acts ix. 4 — 7- Lightfoot and Pirke 
Eliezer. Glassii Philol. Sac. lib. v. Tract. 1. cap. x. Prid. Connect, 
book v. p. 257. 

3 Joshua v. 13 — 15. Judges xiii. 3. 13 — 20. Job xxxviii. 1. 
Dan. ix. 21, 22. 

4 Numb. xii. 6. Maimon. More Nevoch. p. ii. c. xli. p. 307. 



TO THE PROPHETS. 317 

The institution of the Urim and Thummim, which 
was coeval with the time of Moses 5 , afforded the 
means of obtaining Divine information to his contem- 
poraries, as well as to Joshua, and others who succeeded 
him, till the building of the temple, or possibly till the 
captivity 6 . As we know not in what manner this 
mysterious ornament contributed to procure Divine in- 
struction ; whether as some have supposed, it imparted 
intelligence by the brilliancy and configuration of its 
inscribed characters ; or whether, as is most probable, 
it was the consecrated means appointed for the attain- 
ment of answers by an audible voice 7 ; we are still 
certain from the nature and truth of that information, 
as given upon important occasions, that like all other 
modes of Divine revelation under the Jewish economy, 
it was perspicuous and convincing 8 . As far as it was 
designed to instruct the people in public concerns, it 
conveyed precise directions ; and its predictions of 
future prosperity or punishment were delivered, not 
like those of the Pagan oracles, in ambiguous and 
equivocal language, but in appropriate and express 
declarations. It is certain, also, that independently of, 
or in conjunction with those communications which 
the high priest obtained by the Urim and Thummim, 
God did convey instruction to others by an articulate 

5 Exod. xxviii. 30. Numb, xxvii. 21. Mede's Discourse, xxxv. 

6 It is uncertain when the consultation by the Urim and Thum- 
mim ceased. Some think that it was appropriate to the theocracy ; 
some imagine that it was not used after the building of the temple. 
It continued possibly till the destruction of the temple, and it was 
expected to revive after the captivity ; Ezra ii. 63. Nehem. vii. 65. 
though probably it did not. 

7 Judges i. 1. 2 Sam. v. 23, 24. 

8 1 Sam. xxiii. 11, 12. 



318 GENERAL PREFACE 

voice, which proceeded from between the two cheru- 
bims above the mercy-seat, in the Tabernacle 9 ; in a 
manner allusive possibly to the circumstance of God's 
speaking by angels. 

The other modes by which God vouchsafed to reveal 
his instructions to the Prophets, were those of dreams 
and visions *. With respect to dreams, they were 
sometimes imparted as admonitions from God to per- 
sons who had no title to the prophetic character 2 . In 
these cases, they were doubtless less distinct in their 
impression, and rather calculated to strike and amaze, 
than to enlighten the mind. Those who received them, 
either waited their explication in the event, or applied 
for their interpretation to persons who were endued 
with a portion of the Divine spirit : and the power of 
explaining dreams appears to have been an eminent 
characteristic of the Prophets 3 . 

The dreams which revealed future scenes to the 
imaginations of the Prophets were doubtless very forci- 
ble, and evidently predictive. They are supposed by 
the Jews to have been introduced by the immediate 
agency of an angel, who either addressed the Prophets 
by a voice, or pictured representations of events to 
their minds ; but however it might vary in circumstan- 

9 Exod. xxv. 22. Levit. i. 1. Numb. vii. 89. ix. 9. See also 
1 Sam. iii. 3. and following verses. 

1 It is remarkable, that Homer enumerates three modes of obtain- 
ing Divine communications, which correspond with those appointed 
for the conveyance of revelations to God's selected people. Vid. 
Iliad, lib. i. 1. 62, 63. 

2 Maimon. More Nevoch, par. ii. c. xli. Philo Judse. wepl tov 
BeoTrEfnrTovQ eIvcii rovg ovEipovQ. P. 620. vol. i. edit. Mangey. 
Gemarists in Barachoth. c. ix. Gen. xl. xli. Dan. iv. 

3 Jerem. xxiii. 28. 



TO THE PROPHETS. 319 

ces, this mode of communication by dreams must have 
always conveyed very distinct impressions. When no 
voice was heard, and information was to be collected 
from some parabolical scenes, the dreams were probably 
characterized by a lively and regular succession of 
objects, and by an accurate display of intelligible par- 
ticulars. They must have excited respect, as differing 
widely from the wild and intermediate fancies, the 
vague and incoherent images that constitute ordinary 
dreams. 

In visions, which the Jews considered as a mode of 
instruction superior to dreams 4 , the Prophet was con- 
vinced of his subjection to a Divine power, by the 
miraculous suspension of his common faculties; for 
though on these occasions the inspired person was 
awake, his senses were entranced 5 , and insensible to 
all external objects ; or so far enraptured as to be alive 
only to impressions from extatic representations 6 . He 
was likewise often certified, as in dreams, by distinct 
admonitions of some particulars readily ascertained, 
and enabled to foresee some circumstances which im- 
mediately came to pass. 

In all the cases here described, the Prophets could 
not, without doubting the clearest and most palpable 
evidence, distrust the truth of the revelations which 
they received ; and with respect to us, we have ample 
reason from a collective consideration of their writings, 
to be convinced that their inspiration was accompanied 

4 Maim. More Nevoch, par. ii. cap. xlv. and Bayley's Essay on 
Inspiration. 

5 Numb. xxiv. 16. 

c Isaiah vi. 1. Ezek. xl. 2. Dan. viii. 17, 18. x. 8. Acts 
x. 11. 



320 GENERAL PREFACE 

with sufficient characters to distinguish it from the 
dreams of enthusiasm, or the visions of mere fancy 7 . 
The accomplishment of their predictions, and the purity 
of their doctrines, are indeed irrefragable proofs of their 
Divine appointment to prophesy, and to instruct man- 
kind. 

Upon all occasions on which the Prophets are related 
to have been favoured with an intimation of the Divine 
will, we find that they betrayed no symptoms of a 
credulous or heated imagination. Cautious and deli- 
berate in their examination of miraculous revelations, 
they appear to have hesitated at first, as doubtful of 
their reality ; and they often required a sign, or some 
additional evidence, to ratify the commission which 
they received, and to authorise their reliance on the 
Divine support in its execution. This calm and rational 
temper, which rendered the Prophets distrustful of 
their own senses if singly addressed, and solicitous to 
scrutinize the reality of every appearance, however 
miraculous in its circumstances, demonstrates clearly 
that they were not the dupes of their own fancy ; and 
that they expected no reverence for their commission, 
unless consecrated by the sanctions and authority of 
Divine appointment ; and very striking marks of this 
disposition were displayed by the Prophets, as may be 
instanced in the case of Moses 8 , in that of Samuel 9 , 
and in that of Jonah *. 

Under the immediate influence of the impressions 
which the Prophets received from these communica- 

7 Jer. xxxiii. 20. See Isaiah xli. 3. and xliv. 7. Hnetius 
Axioma. p. 12. L. S. Deylingi. Observat. Sac. pars 1. p. 4. edit. 
Lipsise, 1728. Hurd and Smith on Prophecy. 

8 Exod. iii. and iv. 9 1 Sam. iii. * Jonah i. 



TO THE PROPHETS. 321 

tions, they appear to have executed their commission 
by uttering their instructions with a Divine enthusiasm. 
Enraptured by the effects of the inspiration which had 
enlightened their minds, and urged by the efficacy of a 
controlling power 2 , they delivered their predictions in 
an animated and impressive manner, and often with 
some bodily actions and gestures 3 . These naturally 
accompanied an earnest delivery of important convic- 
tions, and as restricted in consistency with the dignity 
and venerable deportment of the Prophets, they were 
very different from those frenzied and extravagant 
gesticulations by which impostors have sought to re- 
commend and enforce their fantastic rhapsodies 4 . 

The word prophecy is often used in Scripture to 
signify the singing of praises to God ; in hymns doubt- 
less of inspired excellence, and occasionally animated 
with predictions of futurity \ The spirit of prophecy, 
in this sense of the word, appears sometimes by God's 
permission, to have communicated itself to those who 
heard others prophesy, the Divine afflatus being con- 
veyed by a kind of sympathy, and harmonious affection fi . 

2 Isa. xxi. 3. Jerem. xx. 9. Dan. x. 8. Amos iii. 8. 

3 Numb. xxiv. 4. 16. Ezek. iii. 14. Habakkuk iii. 16. R. 
Albo, lib. iii. c. x. Smith's Disc. 

4 Chrysost. Homil. xxix. in 1 Cor. Vol. x. p. 257. edit. Paris, 
1732. Hieron. Frolog. in Nahum. torn. iii. p. 1559. and Prolog. 
in Habac. torn. iii. p. 1591. Edit. Paris, 1704. Lucan. lib. v. 
1. 97—101. ^Eneid. lib. vi. 1. 46—51. Plato in Timaeum, p. 90. 
rJ £t kv i)n~iv deia) t,vyyeveig el art tciviicreiq. Jamb, de Myst sect. 3. 
c. ix. Epiphan. adv. Haer. lib. xi. c. 3. p. 404. 

5 1 Sam. x. 5. Hammond on Luke i. 67. Numb. xi. 25. The 
Chaldee Paraphrast translates DW1J, "praising God." 1 Chron.xxv. 1. 

6 1 Sam. x. 5—10. xix. 20 — 24. Smith's Disc, on Prophecy. 
And Lowth's Praelect. poet. 18. p. 225. 

Y 



322 GENERAL PREFACE 

The Prophets who were educated in those schools of 
which the institution is attributed to Samuel 7 , were 
principally employed in this spiritual service ; and thus 
by being exercised in habits of piety, and duly attuned 
and sanctified for the reception of the Divine Spirit, 
they seem to have been often favoured and enlightened 
by its suggestions. The more remarkable prophecies, 
however, which referred to distant periods, which re- 
ceived their accomplishment in after ages, and still 
continue to excite our admiration, were delivered by 
persons, often, indeed, selected from these schools, but 
evidently endued with a large portion of the Spirit, and 
more eminently distinguished by marks of Divine 
favour. 

Such were the principal, if not the only modes by 
which God vouchsafed to reveal himself to the pro- 
phets ; always, we have seen, in a manner consistent 
with the greatness of his attributes, and with the dig- 
nity of the prophetic character ; and all those commu- 
nications which in Scripture are said to have been 
derived from God without any particular description 8 
of the manner in which they were conveyed, must be 
understood to have been received through one of those 
channels which have been here pointed out, 

The Prophets, as might be expected from the dis- 

7 Preface to the Second Book of Samuel, 

8 As when we are told, " thus saith the Lord ;" or, " the word of 
the Lord came ;" which is sometimes stated to have occurred to per- 
sons not endowed with the prophetic character. These expressions 
import only, that the instruction was conveyed by the means then 
appointed, whether by angel, urim, prophet, or dream. Vid. Gen. 
xxii. 1. with Calmet. Josh. i. 1. 1 Kings iii. 11. Jer. i. 2 — 4. 
Hosea i. 1, &c. Maimon. More Nevoch. Par. ii. c. xli. p. 307. 
Edit. Buxtorf. Basil. 1629. 



TO THE PROPHETS. 323 

tinguished marks of Divine approbation which they 
received, seem to have been singularly qualified for the 
sacred ministry. It is not meant to include in this 
consideration persons of condemned or ambiguous cha- 
racter, who are represented in Scripture as compelled 
occasionally to give utterance to the suggestions of the 
sacred Spirit ; but confining ourselves to a contempla- 
tion of those who are declared to have been the ap- 
pointed servants of God, and whose inspired writings 
still continue to instruct mankind, it may be affirmed, 
that in the long and illustrious succession from Moses 
to Malachi, not one appears who was not entitled to 
considerable reverence by the display of great and 
extraordinary virtues 9 . Employed in the exalted office 
of teaching and reforming mankind, they appear to 
have been animated with a becoming and correspondent 
zeal. No unworthy passions, or disingenuous motives, 
were permitted to interfere with their great designs. 
Not indeed, that they were always directed by the 
guidance of the Spirit to undeviating propriety of life, 
since it is manifest that they sometimes acted as un- 
assisted men subject to error ; but notwithstanding the 
failings which their own confessions have transmitted 
to us, it appears, that in general, their passions were 
controlled in subjection to those perfect laws which 

9 2 Pet. i. 21. The Hebrew doctors collect this general rule from 
a consideration of the characters of the Prophets, that the Spirit of 
prophecy never rested upon any but a holy and wise man ; one 
whose passions were allayed. Vid. R. Albo. Maam. iii. c. 36. 
Porta Mosis in Pocock's works. Abarb. Praef. in xii. Prophet. 
Maimon. More Nevoch. Par. ii. c. xxxvi. p. 292. Vid. also Origen 
cont. Cels. lib. vii. p. 336. edit. Cantab. Gem. Pesac. c. vi. The 
rule, however, is not universally true. Vid. Numb. xxiv. 1 Sam. x. 
9. 11. 

Y 2 



324 GENERAL PREFACE 

they taught, and that the strength of their convictions 
rendered them insensible to secular attractions. They 
acted in the spirit of the persuasions which they ex- 
pressed K When not immediately employed in the 
discharge of their sacred office, they lived sequestered 
from the world in religious communities 2 ; or wan- 
dered " in deserts, in mountains, and in caves of the 
earth;" distinguished by their apparel, and by the 
general simplicity of their style of life 3 . 

The Prophets were the established oracles of their 
country, and consulted upon all occasions when it was 
necessary to collect the Divine will on any civil or 
religious question ; and we hear of no schisms or divi- 
sions while they flourished. They even condescended 
to inform the people of common concerns in trivial 
cases, in order to preclude them from all pretence or 
excuse for resorting to idolatrous practices, and heathen 
divinations ; and they were always furnished with some 
prescribed mode of consulting God, or obtained revela- 
tions by prayer 4 ; for we are not to suppose that they 
were invariably empowered to prophesy by any perma- 
nent or perpetual inspiration 5 . These illustrious per- 
sonages were likewise as well the types, as the har- 
bingers of that greater Prophet whom they foretold ; 

1 Jerem. xxxii. 14. 

2 There were schools of the Prophets at Jerusalem, Bethel, Jeri- 
cho, Rama, and Gilgal. Vid. 2 Kings xxii. 14. 2 Kings ii. 5. 
t Sam. xix. 20. 2 Kings iv. 38. 

3 1 Sam. xix. 24. 2 Kings i. 8. iv. 10. 38. v. 15, 16. Isaiah 
xx. 2. Zech. xiii. 4. Matt. iii. 4. Heb. xi. 38. Rev. xi. 3. 

4 Jerem. xxxiii. 3. 

5 2 Kings iv. 27. Maimon. More Nevoch, Pars ii. cap. xxxvi. 
et xlv. Moses, and as some say, David, were supposed to be excep- 
tions to this remark, and to have been perpetually inspired. 



TO THE PROPHETS. 325 

and in the general outline of their character, as well as 
in particular events of their lives, they prefigured to 
the Jews the future Teacher of mankind. Like him, 
also, they laboured by every exertion, to instruct and 
reclaim their countrymen ; reproving and threatening 
the sinful, however exalted in rank, or encircled by 
power, with such fearless confidence and sincerity, as 
often excited respect. The most intemperate princes 
were sometimes compelled unwillingly to hear and to 
obey their directions 6 , though often so incensed by 
their rebuke, as to resent it by the severest persecu- 
tions. Then it was that the Prophets evinced the in- 
tegrity of their characters, by zealously encountering 
oppression, hatred, and death, in the cause of religion. 
Then it was that they firmly supported " trial of cruel 
mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover, of bonds and 
imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn 
asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword : 
they wandered about, destitute, afflicted, tormented 7 ;" 
evil intreated for those virtues of which the memorial 
should flourish to posterity, and martyred for righteous- 
ness, which whenever resentment should subside, it 
would be deemed honourable to reverence 8 . 

The manner in which the Prophets published their 
predictions, was either by uttering them aloud in some 
public place, or by affixing them on the gates of the 
temple 9 , where they might be generally seen and read. 
Upon important occasions, when it was necessary to 

6 1 Sam. xv. 13—30. 2 Sara. xii. 1—15. 1 Kings xii. 21—21. 
xiii. 2—6. xx. 42, 43. xxi. 27. 2 Chron. xxviii. 9 — 14. 

7 Heb. xi. 36, et seq. James v. 10. 

8 Matt, xxiii, 27—29. 

9 Jer. vii. 2. xix. 2. Howel, lib. vi. p. 167. 



326 GENERAL PREFACE 

rouse the fears of a disobedient people, and to recal 
them to repentance, the Prophets, as objects of univer- 
sal attention, appear to have walked about publicly in 
sackcloth, and with every external mark of humiliation 
and sorrow. They then adopted extraordinary modes 
of expressing their convictions of impending wrath, and 
endeavoured to awaken the apprehensions of their 
countrymen by the most striking illustration of threat- 
ened punishment. Thus Jeremiah made bonds and 
yokes, and put them upon his neck \ strongly to inti- 
mate the subjection that God would bring on the 
nations whom Nebuchadnezzar should subdue. Isaiah 
likewise walked naked, that is, without the rough gar- 
ment of the Prophet -, and barefoot 3 , as a sign of the 
distress that awaited the Egyptians. So Jeremiah 

1 Jerem. xxvii. It is clear from the account in the next chapter, 
that Jeremiah put the yoke on his own neck. Vid. chap, xxviii. 10. 
See also 1 Kings xxii. 11. Acts xxi. 11. But, as to send bonds 
and yokes may imply only figuratively to predict captivity, it is not 
necessary to suppose that Jeremiah literally sent yokes and bonds 
to all the kings enumerated in the account, but only that he foretold 
their fate ; perhaps illustrating his prophecy by some significant 
tokens. Vid. Mede's Com. on Apocal. part i. p. 470. Waterland's 
tracts on Jerem. xxvii. 23. 

2 Isa. xx. Harmer's Observat. vol. iv. p. 402. John xxi. 7. 
Origen cont. Cels. lib. vii. p. 699. edit. Par. 1733. 

3 It is said in the text, three years, which means at intervals 
during that time. Some think that we should understand three 
days ; a year being sometimes placed in prophetic language for a 
day. Others maintain, that the Hebrew text, agreeably to the 
Masoretic punctuation, applies the three years, not to Isaiah's walk- 
ing, but to the calamity thereby foreshown, and the Seventy, St. 
Jerom, and our old English versions, adopt this construction. Others, 
lastly, consider the account as the narrative of a transaction in 
vision, or as a parable related by Isaiah. 



TO THE PROPHETS. 327 

broke the potter's vessel 4 ; and Ezekiel publicly re- 
moved his household goods 5 from the city ; more 
forcibly to represent by these actions some correspon- 
dent calamities ready to fall on nations obnoxious to 
God's wrath ; this mode of expressing important cir- 
cumstances by action, being customary and familiar 
among all eastern nations. 

The conduct of the Prophets upon these occasions 
must be considered with reference to the importance of 
their ministry ; and with great allowance for difference 
of manners in their time ; and then will this mode of 
prophesying by actions appear to have been not only 
very striking and impressive, but strictly agreeable to 
the design and decorum of the prophetic character. It 
has, however, been strenuously maintained, that many 
actions attributed to the Prophets, and even some of 
those which have been here represented as real, were 
not actually performed ; and that many of these ac- 
counts should be considered as parables related by the 
Prophets ; or as descriptive of visions, intended strongly 
to impress the imagination of the Prophets, and so in- 
form them symbolically of those tilings in which they 
were to instruct the people 6 . So very confident have 
been the sentiments on both sides, of those who have 

* Jerem. xix. 10. 

5 Ezek. xii. 7. compared with 2 Kings xxv. 4, 5. where the ac- 
complishment of this typical prophecy is related. Vid. also Ezek. 
xxxvii. 16 — 20. 

6 Where it is said, that " the hand of the Lord was upon the 
prophet," or " the word of the Lord came unto him," it is generally 
thought that a vision is described ; and where the instruction of the 
prophet only was designed, the transaction was probably confined to 
the scene of the prophet's imagination. Vid. Gen. xv. 4, 5. Jerem. 
i. 11. 13. xviii. 1 — 4. xxiv. 1 — 4. Ezek. iii. 22 — 27. viii. xxxvii. 



328 GENERAL PREFACE 

supported these opposite opinions, that it would be pre- 
sumptuous to decide on the subject. The Prophets 
themselves sometimes inform us only of certain com- 
mands which they received, without explaining whether 
they understood them as figurative instructions to be 
described to the people, or whether they literally 
obeyed them. This appears in the account given by 
Ezekiel, in which he states to us, that he was directed 
to make a mimic portraiture of a siege, and to continue 
a great length of time lying on his side ; as also in that 
in which he declares himself to have been commanded 
to shave and to consume his hair 7 . The nature of 
these injunctions seems to import only some figurative 
instructions given and obeyed in vision 8 . At other 
times, the Prophets describe not merely the precept, 
but the transaction, with particulars so minutely and 
circumstantially detailed, that we might be led to ad- 

7 Ezekiel iv. and v. 

8 It is not positively asserted that these injunctions were not lite- 
rally executed, but that probably they never were, since Ezekiel 
does not profess actually to have performed them ; and the nature 
of the thing seems to prove, that they were acted only in the ima- 
gination of the prophet. But if the historical sense be received, it 
certainly may be vindicated from all reasonable objections. Ezekiel 
might have been miraculously enabled to bear the fatigue of lying 
so long on his side ; and the cavil of Maimonides against the reality 
of the second transaction is frivolous, for though it was unlawful for 
the priest to shave, (vid. Levit. xxi. 5. Ezek. xliv. 20.) the law 
might certainly be dispensed with, by God's command ; and as un- 
usual, it must have been more remarkable as a sign. The portrai- 
ture of the siege, as represented by the prophet, whether it were real 
or visionary, was descriptive of the circumstances that occurred at 
and after the taking of Jerusalem. Compare Ezek. iv. 1 — 3. with 
Josephus. See also Keppel's Pers. Narrat. from India, vol. i. ch. 9. 
p. 208, 209. 



TO THE PROPHETS. 329 

niit a positive historical sense, did not the difficulties 
and apparently inadequate advantage of an actual per- 
formance, tend to demonstrate that the scene must 
have been fictitious. Thus, however circumstantial be 
the relation of Jeremiah, relative to his concealment 
of the girdle, it is difficult to conceive that God should 
command the Prophet to take two such long journeys 9 
merely for the purpose of this typical illustration ] . 
Nor was it possible, without miracles multiplied for a 
purpose which might as well have been effected by 
a prophetic vision, that Jeremiah should make the 
various nations which he enumerates, drink of the cup 
of fury, which he professed to have received at God's 
hand 2 . These transactions, if performed in vision, 
might be described by the Prophets as signs and inti- 
mations to those whom they addressed. The people 
would not, indeed, be so strongly affected thereby, as 
if they had really witnessed the occurrence of these 

9 Jerem. xiii. " Absit," says Maimonides, in a spirit of hasty 
and indignant piety, " ut Deus Prophetas suos stultis vel ebriis 
similes reddat." But this judicious writer appears to judge too pre- 
cipitately, and contrary to the opinion of his countrymen, where he 
determines that, whenever these actions are represented by way of 
parable or similitude, they must be understood as visionary transac- 
tions. Vid. More Nevoch, Par. ii. c. xlvi. p. 322. Hieron. Praefat. 
in Osee, p. 1234. torn. iii. Glassii Philol. Sac. lib. ii. par. i. Tract 
2. § iv. Art. iii. Stillingfleet's Letter to a Deist, p. 131. 

1 From Jerusalem to the Euphrates, was about 200 leagues. 
Bochart conceives, that as the initial letter N is often dropped, the 
Hebrew word phrath, may stand for Ephrath, or Ephratah, which 
was Bethlehem, not far from Jerusalem. Bochait. Oper. Post. p. 
956. 

2 Jerem. xxv. 15 — 29. This might be a direction to the prophet, 
instructing him figuratively to predict God's anger, and Jeremiah 
may be supposed to have obeved it in a figurative sense. 

3 



330 GENERAL PREFACE 

actions ; and it must be added, that where the circum- 
stances do not absolutely authorize us to suppose that 
the Prophet speaks of transactions in vision, and where 
the action might reasonably and advantageously to the 
Prophet's designs, be literally performed, it is more 
consistent with the rules that should be observed in 
the interpretation of Scripture, to admit a literal and 
positive construction 3 . 

It is now necessary to consider more immediately 
the writings of the Prophets. It is probable, from the 
variety of style observable therein, that the Holy Spirit 
suggested in general, only the matter, and not the 
words to the Prophets 4 ; and this opinion is confirmed, 
when we reflect that our Saviour and his apostles cited 
in general more according to the sense, than to the 
letter of Scripture, and that, though Christ himself 
appears to have referred to the Hebrew, the Evan- 
gelical writers seem, in the majority of instances, to 
have used the Septuagint version, at least when it did 
not differ from the Hebrew original 5 . Moses is by 
some supposed to have been an exception in this par- 
ticular, and to have received the very words and phrases 
in which the communications that he obtained are de- 

3 WitsiusMiscel. Sac. lib. i. cap. xii. p. 94. Edit. Amstel. 1695. 
Carpzov. Introd. in Theol. Jud. c. viii. Pocock on Hosea, ch. i. 
2. Smith's Disc, on Prophecy, ch. vi. Jenkins's Reasonableness 
of Christianity, vol. ii. p. 50. Lakemacher Observ. Philol. vol. ii. 
p. 70. Waterland's Tracts. Warburt. Div. Legat. lib. iv. § 4. 

4 Mairaon. More Nevoeh. Par. ii. cap. xxix. On'gen Epist. ad 
African. Abarbenel in Jer. xlix. 

5 Of 170 texts cited from the Old Testament in the New, 106 are 
stated to agree with the Septuagint, and 64 to differ from that ver- 
sion. See Spearman's Letters concerning the Septuagint, Edin- 
burgh, 1759. p. 344. 



TO THE PROPHETS. 331 

scribed 6 . But this remark should perhaps be confined 
to the decalogue, of which the laws were graven on 
tablets by God himself: and even in the recapitulation 
of these in Moab, Moses varies a little in expressions, 
to intimate, probably, that the sense, and not the letter, 
is the important object of attention. Upon all occa- 
sions, however, when the Prophets were addressed by 
an audible voice, they doubtless recollected, through 
Divine assistance, every word in which the revealed 
instructions were conveyed. Where they collected 
their information from the representation of hierogly- 
phical circumstances in dreams and visions, they were 
probably left to express in their own language the 
things which they had beholden. Hence is the style 
of every prophet more or less perspicuous, according to 
the nature and clearness of the revelation imparted to 
him 7 , and, likewise, characterized with peculiar discri- 
minations resulting from education, and particular in- 
tercourse and habits of life, which certify the authen- 
ticity of his works. 

It cannot, however, be denied, that sometimes the 
Prophets were instructed in the very expressions which 
they should use 8 ; and when composing under the in- 
fluence of that inspiration which dictated whatever was 
conducive to the promotion of God's designs, they de- 
livered both sentiments and expressions, of which they 
themselves understood not always the full importance 

6 Bishop Hurd on Prophecy. Lowth on Isaiah. Whitby's Preface 
to Com. Gem. Sanhed. 

7 Zechariah's, Ezekiel's, and Daniel's Prophecies, are sometimes 
obscure from the multitude of images represented to their imagina- 
tions in vision. Vid. R. Albo, cap. x. 

s i Cor. ii. 13. Isaiah vii, 14. 



332 



GENERAL PREFACE 



and extent 9 . Sensible of the predominating power l , 
they communicated their Divine intelligence as the 
Spirit gave utterance ; conveying prophecies of which 
neither they nor their hearers, probably, perceived the 
full scope, nor foresaw distinctly the spiritual accom- 
plishment ; writing for the advantage of those who 
were to come after, and to afford evidence in support 
of a future dispensation. 

Lord Bacon 2 detects much philosophical knowledge 
in various parts of Scripture, which seems to go beyond 
the discoveries of the period in which it is supposed 
they were written 3 : thus, for instance, Moses shows 
an acquaintance with the powers of chemistry, and his 
precepts with respect to the separation of unclean per- 
sons are regulated by physical considerations which 
imply an intimate knowledge of the nature of conta- 
gion 4 . Job appears to allude to the figure and cir- 
cumstances of the world suspended by the influence of 
appointed laws in empty space 5 ; to the station and 
constituted periods of the fixed stars 6 , and to the de- 
pression of the southern pole 7 . Isaiah, also, and other 
prophets, express themselves in a manner consistent 
with just notions of the form of the earth 8 . The ex- 
pressions which are used are such as appertain only to 
the real state of things. 

9 Psalm xxii. Isaiah liii. Dan. viii. 13, 14. 26, 27. xii. 8. 1 Cor. 
xiii. 9—12. 1 Pet. i. 10, 11, 12. 

1 Jerem. xx. 9. Ezek. iii. 14. 

2 See Bacon, Advancement of Learning, book i. p. 436. 

3 Exod. xxxii. 20. See Nieuwentyt Relig. Philos. vol. i. p. 570. 
* Vide Levit. xiii. 13, &c. 5 Job xxvi. 7. 

6 Job xxxviii. 31. 7 Job ix. 9. 

8 Isaiah xl. 22. Jeremiah vi. 22, xxxi. 37. and Relig. Philos. 
book iv. p. 814. 



TO THE PROPHETS, 333 

The great object of prophecy was, as lias been before 
observed, a description of the Messiah, and of his king- 
dom 9 . The particulars with respect to these, were 
gradually unfolded by successive Prophets, in predic- 
tions more and more distinct. They were at first 
holden forth in general promises ; they were afterwards 
specified by figures, and shadowed out under types and 
illusive institutions ; as well as clearly foretold in the 
full lustre of descriptive prophecy. A complete ex- 
plication of the Scripture types would require more 
compass than can be here allowed. It may, however, 
be observed, by way of general illustration, that the 
remarkable personages under the old dispensation were 
sometimes, in the detail of their characters, and in the 
events of their lives ! , the representatives of the future 
dispensers of evangelical blessings, as Moses and David 
were unquestionably types of Christ 2 . Persons, like- 
wise, were sometimes descriptive of things, as Sarah 
and Hagar were allegorical figures of the two cove- 
nants 3 . And, on the other hand, things were used 
to symbolize persons, as the brazen serpent, and the 
Paschal Lamb 4 , were signs of our healing and spotless 
Redeemer. And so, lastly, ceremonial appointments 

9 Matt. xxvi. 56. Luke i. 70. xviii. 31. xxiv. 44. John i. 45. 
Acts iii. 18. 24. x. 43. xiii. 27. xv. 15. xxviii. 23. 1 Pet. i. 10 — 
12. Maimon. in. Sanh. R. Solomon Jarchi, in Zechar. ix. Low- 
man on Prophecy. 

1 Matt. xii. 40. 

2 Ezek. xxxiv. 23. Vid. also Matt. xi. 14. Heb. vi. 20. vii. 
1—3. 

3 Gal. iv. 22—31. and Rom. ix. 8—13. See also, Psalm xxxiv. 
20. 

4 John iii. 14. Comp. also Exod. xii. 46. with John xix. 36. 



334 GENERAL PREFACE 

and legal regulations were pre-ordained as significant 
of Gospel institutions \ 

Hence it was that many of the representations of the 
Prophets had a twofold character : bearing often an 
immediate reference to present circumstances, and yet 
being in their nature allusive of future occurrences. 
What they reported of the type was often in a more 
signal manner applicable to the thing typified 6 ; what 
they spoke literally of present, was figuratively de- 
scriptive of future particulars 7 ; and what was applied 
in a figurative sense to existing persons, was often ac- 
tually characteristic of their distant archetypes 8 . Many 
passages, then, in the Old Testament, which in their 
first aspect appear to be historical, are in fact pro- 
phetic, and they are so cited in the New Testament, 
not by way of ordinary accommodation, or casual coin- 
cidence, but as intentionally predictive, as having a 
double sense, a literal and mystical interpretation 9 . 

This mode of wrapping up religious truths in alle- 
gory, was practised by all nations l . It was familiar to 
the Jews, and agreeable to their conceptions of the 
nature of the Scriptures 2 . It gives, likewise, great 

5 1 Cor. x. 1—11. Heb. viii. 5. ix. x. 1 Pet. iii. 20. 22. Euseb. 
Prsep. Evang. lib. viii. c. x. Lowth's Preface to Comm. on Pro- 
phets. Lowth's Preface to Isaiah. Vid. also the Accounts of 
Exodus and Leviticus in this work. 

6 Psalm xxi. 4 — 6. xl. 1. 7—10. Canticles. Lament, iii. 1—30. 
Psa. xli. 9. comp. with John xiii. 18. Dan. ix. 26, 27. 

7 Psalms and Prophets, passim, 

8 Psalm xxii. 16—18, &c. 

9 Compare Hosea xi. 1. with Matt. ii. 15. 

1 Clem. Alex. Strom, lib. v. p. 681. torn. ii. 

2 Psal. cxix. 18. Ecclus. xlviii. 10. and Mede's Disc. c. xxv. 



TO THE PROPHETS. 335 

interest and importance to the sacred book ; in the 
perusal of which the diligent are daily recompensed by 
the discovery of more admirable contrivance, and un- 
expected beauties ; the intimate analogy which was 
concerted between the Jewish and the Christian church, 
rendering the figurative display strikingly proper and 
curious. 

Besides those historical passages, of which the covert 
allusions were explained by the interpretation of the 
Gospel writers, who were enlightened by the Spirit to 
unfold the mysteries of Scripture, the Prophets often 
uttered positive predictions, which, in consequence of 
the correspondence established between the two dis- 
pensations, were descriptive of a double event; how- 
ever they might be themselves ignorant of the full 
extent of those prophecies which they delivered. For 
instance, their promises of present success and deliver- 
ances, were often significant of distant benefits, and 
secular consolations conveyed assurances of evangelical 
blessings 3 . Thus their prophecies received completion 
in a first and secondary view. As being, in part, signs 
to excite confidence, they had an immediate accom- 
plishment, but were afterwards fulfilled in a more 
illustrious sense 4 ; the Prophets being inspired by the 

Acts viii. 34. Maimon. More Nevoch. par. ii. c. xliii. p. 312. R. 
David Kirachi on Hosea i. 4. in Bemidbar Rab. Observat. Jos. de 
Voisin. in Procem. Pugion. Fideu p. 1.54. edit. Lips. 1687. M. B. 
Israel spes Israelis, § 25. Philo de Vit. Contem. vol. ii. p. 475. 
edit. Mangey. Joseph. Antiq. lib. iii. cap. ix. Origen cont. Cels. lib. 
ii. p. 412. edit. Par. 1733. Chandler's Def. § v. ch. iii. 

3 2 Sam. vii. 13, 14. comp. with Heb. i. 5. Pensees de Pascal, 
§ 10. 14. 

4 1 Kings xiii. 2, 3. Isaiah vii. 14. and Matt. i. 2, 3. Comp. 
Dan. ix. 27. and xii. 7. with 1 Mace. i. 54. and Matt. xxiv. 15. 



336 GENERAL PREFACE 

suggestions of the Spirit, to use expressions magnificent 
enough to include the substance in the description of 
the figure. That many of the prophecies in the Old 
Testament were direct, and singly and exclusively ap- 
plicable to, and accomplished in our Saviour, is cer- 
tain 5 ; and that some passages from the Old Testa- 
ment are cited only by way of accommodation to cir- 
cumstances described in the New, is, perhaps, equally 
true 6 . But that this typical kind of prophecy was 
likewise employed is evident, as well from the inter- 
pretation of the passages above referred to, as from the 
application of many other parts of Scripture by the 
sacred writers, and, indeed, from their express decla- 
rations 7 

It requires much attention to comprehend the full 
import and extent of this typical dispensation, and the 

Vitringa Obser. Sac. lib. ii. c. 11. and c. 12. § 5. edit. Amst. 1727. 
Glassii Philo Sac. lib. ii. par. i. Tract 2. Witsii Miscel. Sac. torn. i. 
lib. iii. cap. iii. and lib ii. Diss. 1, 2. iEcon. Feed. lib. iv. c. vi. — 
x. Sixt. Senen. in Bib. Sane. Cunaeus Rep. Heb. Jenkins's Rea- 
sonableness. Pensees de Pascal, ch. xv. n. 13. Jackson's Works, 
vol. ii. book vii. § 2. 

5 Gen. xlix. 10. Psalm xxii. 18. xlv. Isaiah vii. 14. iii. liii. 
Dan. vii. 13, 14. Micah v. 2. Zechar. ix. 9. Mai. iii. 1. Origen 
cont. Cels. lib. i. p. 39. 

6 Comp. Exod. xvi. 18. with 2 Cor. viii. 15. Many passages, 
however, supposed accidentally to correspond, seem to have been 
designedly prophetic. Comp. Isaiah xxix. 13. with Matt. xv. 7,8. 
Isaiah vi. 9. with Matt. xiii. 14. Psal. lxxviii. 2. with Matt. xiii. 35. 
Jerem. xxxi. 15. with Matt. ii. 17. 

7 Hos. xii. 10. 1 Cor. x. 11. Heb. ix. x. Gal. iii. 24. Clem. 
Alex. Strom, lib. v. p. 659. edit. Potter. Hilar, in Psal. lxiii. n. 2, 
3. August, de Doct. Christ, lib. iii. c. iv. § 9. p. 47. torn. iii. Paris, 
1689. Waterland's Preface to Script. Vindic. and Lancaster's 
Abridgr. of Daubuz. 



TO THE PROPHETS. 337 

chief obscurities which prevail in the sacred writings 
are to be attributed to the double character of pro- 
phecy 8 . To unravel this, is, however, an interesting and 
instructive study ; though an admiration of the spiritual 
meaning should never lead us to disregard or undervalue 
the first and evident signification ; for many great men 
have been so dazzled by their discoveries in this mode 
of explication, as to be hurried into wild and extrava- 
gant excess ; as is evident from the writings of Origen 9 , 
and St. Jerom ] ; as likewise from the commentaries of 
St. Augustin, who acknowledges 2 that he had too far 
indulged in the fancies of an exuberant imagination, 
declaring that the other parts of Scripture are the best 
commentaries. The apostles and the evangelists are, 
indeed, the best expositors ; but where these infallible 
guides have led the way, we need not hesitate to 
follow their steps by the light of clear reason, and just 
analogy. 

It is this double character of prophecy which occa- 
sions those unexpected transitions and sudden inter- 
change of circumstance so observable in the prophetic 

8 Pfeiffer Hermeneut. Sac. p. 633. Chand. Def. sect. 1. Lowth's 
Vindic. of Old and New Test. 

9 Origen was a scholar of Clemens Alexandrinus, who derived his 
taste for allegory from the works of Philo, the Jew. Vid. Phot. Cod. 
105. Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. vi. cap. xix. Hieron. Epist. adMag. 
Smallbrook's Answer to Woolston, vol. i. p. 93. 

1 He professes, in the fervour of youthful fancy, to have spiritual- 
ized the Book of Obadiah, before he understood it, and prefers his 
historical explications as a work Matures Senectutis. Vid Procem. in 
Abdiam. 

2 Angust. Retract, lib. i. c. xviii. torn. 1. p. 28. He contended 
for a four-fold sense of Scripture. Vid. Glassii Philol. lib. ii. par. ii. 
tract 2. et seq. 

Z 



338 GENERAL PREFACE 

books. Thus different predictions are sometimes blended 
and mixed together 3 ; temporal and spiritual deliver- 
ances are foretold in one prophecy; and great and 
smaller events are combined in one point of view. 
Hence, likewise, one chain of connected design ran 
through the whole scheme of prophecy, and a con- 
tinuation of events successively fulfilling, and succes- 
sively branching out into new predictions, continued to 
confirm the faith, and to keep alive the expectations 
of the Jews. It was the character of the prophetic 
spirit to be rapid in its descriptions, and regardless of 
the order of history ; to pass with quick and unexpected 
celerity from subject to subject, and from period to 
period. 

" We must allow," says Lord Bacon 4 , " for that lati- 
tude that is agreeable and familiar to prophecy, which 
is of the nature of its author, with whom a thousand 
years are but as one clay." The whole of the great 
scheme must have been at once present to the Divine 
mind, but God described its parts in detail to mankind ; 
in such measures, and in such proportions, that the 
connection of every link was obvious, and its relations 
apparent in every point of view, till the harmony and 
entire consistency of the plan were displayed to those 
who witnessed its perfection in the advent of Christ. 
It foretold with remarkable exactness many of the 
great revolutions which promoted the designs of Pro- 

3 As those which refer to the first and second restoration of the 
Jews, and to the first and second coming of Christ ; the Prophets 
taking occasion from the description of near, to launch out into that 
of distant circumstances, as did our Saviour in his famous Prophecy. 
Vid. Matt. xxiv. Vid. Preface to Isaiah. 

4 Bacon de Augm. Scient. lib. ii. 



TO THE PROPHETS. 339 

vidence, and conspired to the establishment of the 
Gospel. 

It may be further observed of prophecy, as it appears 
in the sacred writings, that it was " a light shining in a 
dark place 5 ;" that it was not generally designed to be 
so clear as to excite an expectation of particular events, 
or a desire of counteracting foreseen calamities 6 ; but 
that it was intended in the accomplishment of its pre- 
dictions to demonstrate the wisdom and power of God 7 . 
It was sufficiently exact in its descriptions to authen- 
ticate the pretensions to a Divine authority, and to 
produce, when it came to pass, an acknowledgment of 
its unerring certainty. Had it been more clear, it must 
have controlled the freedom of human actions ; or have 
appeared to have produced its own accomplishment, 
furnishing sinners with a plea of necessity 8 . The com- 
pletion of the predictions is not even in general pointed 
out by the sacred writers by any direct reference, but 
is to be collected from the historical events, and often 
from the casual and scattered notices which they afford, 
or which are obtained from profane writers. The Pro- 
phets intimate the insufficiency of the ritual institution 

5 2 Pet. i. 19. 

6 Had the Jews certainly known Christ to have been the predicted 
Messiah, they would not have crucified the Lord of Life. Vid. 
Acts xiii. 27. iii. 17. 

7 Sir Isaac Newton on Dan. p. 251. Hurd on Prophecy, Serm. ii. 
John xiii. 19. xvi. 4. Lowth's Vindication of the Divine Authority 
of the Old and New Test. p. 171. The prophecies relative to the 
Messiah must have appeared very obscure and irreconcileable with 
each other before the appearance of Christ, as they referred both to 
his human and Divine character — to his earthly sufferings and future 
exaltation. 

B Lowth's Vindicat. p. 77. 

z2 



340 GENERAL PREFACE 

of the law 9 . Had the period of the Messiah's advent 
been at first distinctly and precisely revealed, the Jews 
would have disregarded such a distant hope. Some- 
times, however, when occasion required, the predictions 
of the Prophets were positive, and exactly descriptive *, 
and occasionally delivered with an accurate and definite 
designation of names and times 2 . Hence, though the 
character and kingdom of Christ were at first holden 
out only in general and intermediate promises, yet so 
emphatic were the assurances as the time approached, 
and so peremptory the limitation of its period ; so for- 
cible and particular were the prophecies concerning the 
Messiah, when collected and concentrated into one 
point of view, that about the sera of our Saviour's birth, 
a very general persuasion of the instant appearance of 
some great and extraordinary personage prevailed, not 
only in Judaea, but also in other countries ; as is evident 
from the accounts of various writers 3 , sacred and pro- 
fane 4 . 

9 Micah vi. 6—8. Hosea vi. 6. 1 Sam. xv. 22. 

1 Numb. xxiv. 17. Isa. ix. 6. Zechar. ix. 9. xi. 12, 13. Dan. 
ii. 38—45. Mai. i. 1. iii. 1. 

2 Gen. xv. 13. Numb. xiv. 33. Jerem. xxv. 11, 12. Dan. ix. 
24, 25. Micah v. 2. 

3 New Test, passim. Vid. also 1 Mace. iv. 46. xiv. 41. and 
Preface to the Historical Books, p. 134, note 4 . 

4 Cicero de Divin. lib. ii. cap. 54. p. 85. torn. 3. Tacit. Histor. 
lib. v. § 13. Sueton. Vespas. c. iv. Virgil's Eclog. iv. iEneid. VI. 
1. 791. et seq. Vossius de Sibyl. Orac. c. iv. p. 232. edit, Lond. 
1685. Cudworth's Intell. Syst. book i. c. iv. Nechumias, a Jewish 
Rabbi, is said to have affirmed, about 50 years before the birth of 
Christ, that the appearance of the Messiah could not be delayed 
above 50 years ; collecting his opinion, probably, from the prophe- 
cies of Daniel. Dr. Woodward's Sermons in Boyle's Lect. vol. ii. 
p. 516. 



TO THE PROPHETS. 341 

It has been very erroneously imagined, that the 
Prophets and inspired writers of the Old Testament, 
took but little pains to instruct the Israelites in the 
doctrine of a future state ; and that in their exhorta- 
tions and threats, they confined themselves entirely to 
motives of temporal reward and punishment. It has 
been as strangely asserted also, that though the Jews 
thought with the rest of mankind, that the soul sur- 
vived the body, yet that they simply concluded that it 
returned to him who gave it, without indulging in any 
speculations concerning its state of future existence 5 . 
But though, as it has been before observed 6 , Moses 
annexed only temporal sanctions to his laws, (which by 
no means excluded, but were indeed understood to be 
figurative of greater promises 7 ,) yet the Prophets in 
their addresses to the hopes and fears of their country- 
men, unquestionably held out the encouragement of 
eternal happiness, and the terrors of eternal misery. It 
is certain also, that the Jews looked anxiously forward 
to that state of immortality which they expected to 
inherit, not merely from the general conviction of a 
future existence, which as an obvious truth they, in 
common with all other nations entertained ; but from 
the more positive and particular information that they 

5 Le Clerc, Warburton, &c. Vid. Div. Legat. book v. § 6. 
p. 476. 

6 Preface to Pentateuch, p. 60. 

7 Heb. xi. 8—16. 25, 26. Deut. xxxii. 29. 1 Sara. ii. 6. Psalm 
lxx. 2. Isa. xxvi. 19. Hence it is, that Maimonides observes, 
" Quod ad resurrectionem autem mortuorum, est id fundamentum e 
fundaraentis legis Mosis, quam si quis non credat, non est ipsi in 
Judaeorum Religione sors aut locus ;" (vid. Pocock's Porta Mosis, 
p. 60.) and yet his countrymen considered his testimony as not suffi- 
ciently strong, as Maimonides confesses. Vid. also Levit. xviii. 5. 



342 GENERAL PREFACE 

obtained from revealed accounts ; for not to mention 
that the general denunciations of God's wrath must 
have been understood to involve declarations of perma- 
nent retribution, it is manifest from numberless pas- 
sages of Scripture, that the Prophets directly appealed 
to those convictions which the people cherished as to a 
future state ; and that they rested on motives of future 
consideratiou, as on the strongest arguments to excite 
obedience 8 . The Prophets did not, it is true, so fully 
insist upon these motives, or so perfectly reveal the 
assurance and character of a final judgment, as did our 
Saviour, who brought life and immortality distinctly to 
view 9 , and whose Gospel was entirely grounded on 

8 Job xiii. 15. xix. 25 — 29. and Preface to Job. Psalm i. 5. 
ix. 8. xvi. 11. xvii. 15. xxiii, 4. xxx. 19, 20. xlix. 7, 8. 15.1. 
lviii. 11. lxxiii. 3 — 26. lxxxvii. 6. xcvi. 13. cxv. 8. cxvi. 15. 
cxxxiii. 3. cxxxix. 24. Prov. iv. 18, 19. viii. 35, 36. ix. 18. x. 2. 
28. xi. 7, 8. xii. 28. xiv. 32. xv. 24. xxi. 16. xxii. 18. xxiv. 12. 
comp. with Rom. ii. 6. and Rev. xxii. 12. Eccles, iii. 17. 21. xi. 9. 
xii. 7. 14. Isa. ii. 17. v. 16. xxv. 8. xxvi. 4. 9. 19. xxxiii. 14. Ii. 
8. lvii. 1, 2. lviii. 8. lxiv. 4. comp. with 1 Cor. ii. 9. Jeremrxvii. 
11. 13. Ezek. xviii. xxxii. 27. xxxvii. Dan. vii. 10. 18. xii. 2, 3. 13. 
Hosea xiii. 14. Joel ii. 30. comp. with Matt. xxiv. 29. Zephan. 
iii. 8. Zech. iii. 7. Mai. iii. 16. 18. iv. 1. Matt. xxii. 32. Acts 
xxiv. 14, 15. 

9 Christ is said, in our translation, to have " brought life and im- 
mortality to light through the Gospel," 2 Tim. i. 10. which by no 
means imports that the doctrine was before unknown, but agreeably 
to the sense of the original, tywrioavTOQ Zojijv /ecu d^dapcriai', that he 
rendered life and immortality more clear, or diffused light on that 
doctrine, as the word c/>wri£av signifies in John i. 9. 1 Cor. iv. 5. 
Ephes. iii. 9. and elsewhere. Vide Robertson's Clavis Pentateuchi, 
Prsef. p. 19. note *. Or perhaps the text means, that Christ having 
abolished death, opened to us a prospect of immortality, and dis- 
posed the doctrine to the Gentile world, " which sat in darkness, 
and in^he shadow of death." Christ likewise brought life and im- 



TO THE PROPHETS. 343 

those higher sanctions and better promises s ; but they, 
nevertheless, did apply to these cogent motives, and 
more forcibly so, as that covenant approached to which 
Immortality was annexed, as a positive and declared 
condition 9 . 

The Jews could not have believed the translation of 
Enoch \ and Elijah 2 , the imperfect recompence of the 
Patriarchs 3 , (who spoke of this life as a pilgrimage 4 ,) 
and of their great lawgiver, (who had no known sepul- 
chre,) or the accomplishment of the promises 5 , to their 
own advantage, without a reliance on the enjoyment of 
some celestial state in which they should obtain the 

mortality to light by annexing them as covenanted rewards to the 
Gospel. Pocock conceives that the doctrine of the resurrection was 
less explicitly laid down in the Law than in the Gospel, because the 
former was delivered to the posterity of Abraham, who entertained 
no doubts on the subject ; whereas the Gospel was communicated to 
nations to whom the doctrine was not previously revealed ; whence 
the remark of the Athenian philosophers concerning the preaching of 
St. Paul. Acts xvii. 18. Vide Notae Miscel. in Porta Mosis, c. 6. 

8 Heb. viii. 6. 

9 Bull's Harmon. Apost. c. x. § 8. p. 72. edit. Lond. 1703. 

1 Gen. v. 24. Heb. xi. 5. 

2 2 Kings ii. 11. See also, 2 Kings iv. 35, 36, 37. 

3 The curses denounced against Adam could not be removed from 
the Patriarchs, as was promised by God's covenant, unless by a re- 
storation to the prospect of eternal life : and the Jews must have 
known that their forefathers were dead without having received the 
accomplishment of the promises. Vid. Heb. xi. 39, 40. 

4 Gen. xlvii. 8, 9. 

5 The Jews must have perceived that temporal rewards were not 
allotted to individuals in proportion to their deserts : they must have 
seen the righteous oppressed, and the wicked triumphant ; and, 
therefore, in the conviction of God's truth, they must have looked to 
the completion of his promises and threats in a future life. 



344 GENERAL PREFACE 

consummation of their reward. Those among them 
whose opinions were grounded on revelation, unques- 
tionably built their faith on the expectation of a future 
life and judgment ; which is evident from many parts 
of the Old Testament 6 , as well as from express decla- 
rations of the evangelical writers in the New 7 ; from 
whatever we can collect concerning their opinions 
before 8 and after the publication of the Gospel ; par- 
ticularly from that firm confidence in those dispell sa- 

6 Gen. i. 27. ii. 7. xxxvii. 35. Numb, xxiii. 10. Deut. xiv. 1, 
2. xxxii. 39. 1 Sam. ii. 6, xxv. 29. xxviii. 8. 14, 15. 2 Sam. 
xii. 23. 2 Kings xxii. 20. Job xix. 25. Psalm xxiii. 4. Daniel 
xii. 2. Hosea vi. 2. The passages, which seem to favour a con- 
trary persuasion, and to import a distrust in a future state, are only 
opinions brought forward for refutation, or strong representations of 
the effects of death, as to the present world. They imply that, by 
the ordinary laws of nature, or by man's proper force, the dead should 
not be restored. 

7 Matt. xxii. 23. 29—32. Luke xvi. 31. xx. 37, 38. John v. 
39. viii, 26. xi. 24, Acts xxiii. 8. xxiv. 4—16. Heb. xi. 10. 
16—19. 35. 39, 40. Luke xiii. 14. and Matt. xiii. 40—43. and 
51. The Sadducees were distinguished as a sect who denied the 
resurrection. Acts xxiii. 8. 

8 Wisd. iii. 1. 10. 18, 19. iv. 7. v. 1. 5. 15.. viii. 13. Ecclus. 
xlix. 10. 2 Mace. vii. 9. 11. 14. 23. 29. 36. xiv. 46. Joseph, 
cont. Apion. lib. ii. § 30. The Hebrew notions concerning the 
Sheol (the Hades of the Septuagint), which was the supposed place of 
departed souls, often mentioned in the Old Testament ; concerning 
the Rephaim, (the giants, or ghosts of dead men, spoken of in Job 
xxvi. 5. and elsewhere) and concerning " the gathering of the righ- 
teous ;" the request of Saul to the woman of Endor ; and, lastly, 
the Paradise and the Gehenna, mentioned in the New Testament, 
all tend to prove that the Jews, before the coming of Christ, believed 
the separate existence of the soul, and a future state of reward and 
punishment. 



TO THE PROPHETS, 345 

tions which they now derive from the promises of 
Moses, and of the Prophets 9 , and which many expect 
to take place in the time of the Messiah \ 

The language of the Prophets is remarkable for its 
magnificence. Each writer is distinguished for peculiar 
beauties ; but their style in general may be character- 
ized as strong, animated, and impressive. Its orna- 
ments are derived not from accumulation of epithet, or 
laboured harmony, but from the real grandeur of its 
images, and the majestic force of its expressions. It is 
varied with striking propriety, and enlivened with quick 
but easy transitions. Its sudden bursts of eloquence, 
its earnest warmth, its affecting exhortations and ap- 
peals, afford very interesting proofs of that vivid im- 
pression, and of that inspired conviction, under which 
the Prophets wrote ; and which enabled them, among 
a people not distinguished for genius, to surpass in 
every variety of composition, the most admired produc- 
tions of Pagan antiquity. If the imagery employed by 
the sacred writers appears sometimes to partake of a 
coarse and indelicate cast, it must be recollected, that 
the eastern manners and languages required the most 
forcible representations ; aud that the masculine and 
indignant spirit of the Prophets led them to adopt the 
most energetic and descriptive expressions. 

No style is perhaps so highly figurative as that of 
the Prophets. Every object of nature and of art which 
can afford allusions, is explored with industry : every 
scene of creation, and every page of science, seems to 

9 Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. iii. Porta Mosis, p. 52. et seq. and 
Pocock's notes, c. vi. 

1 Pocock. Notse Miscel. in Porta Mosis, c. vi. and Mede's Epist, 
43. to Dr. Twisse, lib. iv. p. 801-2. edit. Lond. 1677. 



346 GENERAL PREFACE 

have unfolded its rich varieties to the sacred writers, 
who, in the spirit of eastern poetry, delight in meta- 
phorical embellishment. Thus, by way of illustration, 
it is obvious to remark, that earthly dignities and 
powers are symbolized by the celestial bodies; the 
effects of moral evil are shown under the storms and 
convulsions of nature ; the pollutions of sin are repre- 
sented by external impurities ; and the beneficial influ- 
ence of righteousness is depicted by the serenity and 
confidence of peaceful life 2 . 

This allegorical language being founded on notions 
universally prevalent, and adhered to with invariable 
relation and regular analogy, has produced great orna- 
ment and elegance in the sacred writings. Sometimes, 
however, the inspired penmen drew their allusions from 
local and temporary sources of metaphor : from the 
peculiar scenery of their country ; from the idolatries 
of heathen nations ; from their own history and circum- 
stances ; from the service of their temple, and the 
ceremonies of their religion : from manners which have 
faded, and customs which have fallen to disuse. Hence 
many appropriate beauties have vanished. Many de- 
scriptions, and many representations, that must have 
had a solemn importance among the Jews, are now 
considered, from a change of circumstances, in a de- 
graded point of view. Hence, likewise, here and there 
a shade of obscurity prevails 3 . In general, however, 

2 Newton on Daniel. Isaiah xxxii. 2. xxxiv. and xxxv. 1, 2. 
Jones's Lectures on the figurative Language of Scripture. Vitringa 
in Jesaiam xxxiii. and xxxiv. chapters, p. 267. edit. Leovard, 1724. 
Lancaster's Abridgment of Daubuz. Mede. Bishop Hurd's Ninth 
Sermon on Prophecy. 

3 Bundy's Introduction to the Sacred Books. 



TO THE PROPHETS. 347 

the language of Scripture, though highly sublime and 
beautiful, is easy and intelligible to all capacities. The 
Divine truth which it contains, is presented to us in the 
most clear and familiar manner ; it assumes, as it were, 
the dress of mankind, and instructs us with the conde- 
scension and familiarity of human converse. Not de- 
signed merely for the learned and the wise, it adopts 
a plain and perspicuous language, which has all the 
graces of simplicity, and all the beauties of unaffected 
eloquence. In treating of heavenly things, it reveals 
mysteries to which the human imagination could never 
have soared ; and discloses the attributes and conduct 
of God in representations analogous to our conceptions, 
without degrading them by any unworthy statement 4 . 
It presents the Divine perfections incarnate, as it were, 
to our apprehensions, by the illustration of familiar 
images. Thus the human affections and corporeal pro- 
perties which are ascribed to the Deity in Scripture, 
are level to the notions of the vulgar, and yet are rea- 
dily understood by enlightened minds to be descriptive 
only of some correspondent attributes that consist with 
the excellency of the Divine nature: so that when 
revelation accommodates its language to our restricted 
intellects, it is with such faithful adherence to the real 
and essential properties of the Deity, and to the true 
character of heavenly things, that it is calculated to 
raise the conceptions, not to debase the theme. 

4 " Lex loquitur lingua filiorum hominum," was a Jewish remark. 
But it has been observed, that no senses which savour of gross cor- 
poriety, are ascribed to God, as touching or tasting ; it being agreed, 
says Maimonides, " Deum non compingi cum corporibus per con- 
tactum corporalem." Vid. Maimon. Mov. Nevoc. par. i. c. xxvL 
xxxiii. xlvii. 



348 GENERAL PREFACE 

It remains to be observed, that the greatest part of 
the prophetic books, as well as those more especially 
styled poetical, was written in some kind of measure or 
verse 5 ; though the Jews of very early times appear to 
have been insensible of the existence of any numerical 
arrangement in them 6 . As the Hebrew has been a 
dead language above eighteen centuries, and as it is 
generally thought to be destitute of vowels, we can 
have no power of ascertaining the pronunciation, or 
even the number of its syllables. The quantity and 
rhythm of its verse must, therefore, have entirely pe- 
rished ; and there can be no mode of discovering the 
rules by which they were governed 7 . That the He- 
brew poetry in general, however, was controlled by 
some kind of measures is evident ; not only from the 
peculiar selection of unusual expressions and phrases, 
but also from the artificial arrangement, and regular 
distribution of many sentences, which run in parallel 
divisions, and correspond, as it were, in equal periods ; 

5 The historical relations interspersed in these books are of course 
excluded from this remark. So, likewise, the Book of Daniel, which 
is chiefly narrative, has nothing poetical, nor has that of Jonah, ex- 
cept the prayer, which is an ode. The grave and elevated prophe- 
cies of Ezekiel, (whom Bishop Lowth has characterized as an orator 
rather than a poet) seem to reject metrical arrangement. The odes 
which are in the Books of Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Habakkuk, are of a 
distinct and peculiar species of poetry. Vid. Lowth's Praalect. 25, 
26, 27, 28. 

Most of the prophecies in the historical books are unquestion- 
ably written in some kind of measure, as those of Noah, Jacob, and 
Balaam, and the Divine hymn of Moses in the thirty-second chapter 
of Deuteronomy ; all of which exhibit very beautiful specimens of 
metrical poetry. 

7 The measure of the modern Jews is very different from that of 
the sacred writings, and was probably borrowed from the Arabians. 



TO THE PROPHETS, 349 

but whether this measure resulted from the observance 
of certain definite numerical feet, or was regulated by 
the ear, and the harmony of lines of similar cadence, is 
uncertain 8 . The sententious modulation, however, 
which in consequence prevailed, was so strong as to be 
transfused, and to predominate in our translation. It 
is observable, also, that the measure is often varied ; 
and even sometimes in the same poem, but with a pro- 
priety which appears from the effect to be always well 
adapted to the subject. 

There is nothing inconsistent with the nature of in- 
spiration, to suppose that its suggestions might be con- 
veyed in numbers. The Prophets, in the ordinary 
modes of prophesying, were accustomed to compose 
their hymns to the sound of some musical instrument 9 ; 

8 Lowth's Praelect. 3. and 19. et metrics Harianae Confutatio. 
The learned deny that correspondence and similitude between the 
Hebrew and the Grecian measures which St. Jerom, on the autho- 
rity of Josephus andOrigen, maintained to exist. Vid. Praelect. 18. 
Bedford's Temple Music, ch. vi. Calmet, &c. The Hebrew lan- 
guage hardly admitted a transposition of words sufficient for the 
Grecian measures ; and it appears evident, that though the language 
abounds in similar terminations, yet that rhyme was not considered 
as necessary or ornamental in the Hebrew verse. 

9 The Jews conceived that music calmed the passions, and pre- 
pared the mind for the reception of the prophetic influence. It is 
probable that the Prophets on these occasions did not usually per- 
form, themselves, on the musical instruments, but rather accompanied 
the strains of the minstrel with their voice. Vid. 1 Sam. x. 5. 
2 Kings iii. 15. 1 Chron. xxv. 1. Lowth's Praelect. Poet. 18. et 
seq. It has been the practice of all nations to adapt their religious 
worship to music, which the fabulous accounts of antiquity derived 
from heaven. Alting. Hist. Acad. Heb. p. 23. And Smidius de 
Cantu Eccles. V. et N. Test. Mart. Gilb. de Cantu et Musica Sac. 
R. David Kimchi in 1 Sam. x. 5. 



350 GENERAL PREFACE 

and there could be but little difficulty in accommo- 
dating their effusions to a measure which imposed 
probably no great restrictions in a language so free and 
uncontrolled as the Hebrew. The Holy Spirit, like- 
wise, while it quickened the invention of the Prophets, 
and fired their fancy, might enable them to observe the 
established style of composition. 

The Prophets probably collected their own prophe- 
cies into their present form ; though the author of the 
lives of the Prophets, under the name of Dorotheus, 
affirms, in a very groundless assertion, that none but 
David and Daniel did so ; conceiving that the scribes 
of the temple received them as they were delivered, 
without order ; but they were indisputably composed 
and published by those Prophets whose names they 
severally bear 1 . As their genuine productions, they 
were received into the Jewish canon ; and were read 
in the Jewish synagogues, (except during the persecu- 
tion of Antiochus Epiphanes, when the reading of the 
law was interdicted) to the days of our Saviour, from 
whose time they have been constantly read in the 
Christian churches 2 . Some of the prophetic Psalms 
were blended in the Hebrew services and books, and 
they are with great propriety received and used in our 
service as illustrating the grand scheme of prophecy, 
and as replete with the most excellent instruction of 

1 Isaiah xxx. 8. Jerem. xxx. 2. Habak. iii. 2, &c. 

2 Acts xiii. 15. When the reading of the Laws was restored 
after this persecution, the prophetic books furnished detached pas- 
sages for a second lesson, selected with reference to the section read 
from the Law, and read by a different person. The prophecies were 
read only in the morning service, and never on the Monday or 
Thursday, which days were appropriated to the Law exclusively. 

3 



TO THE PROPHETS. 351 

every kind. The predictions which they contain, were 
principally accomplished in the appearance of Christ. 
Some, however, which referred to the dispersion and 
subsequent state of the Jews, as well as to the condi- 
tion of other nations, still continue under own eyes to 
be fulfilled, and will gradually receive their final and 
consummate ratification in the restoration of the Jews, 
in the universal establishment of Christ's kingdom 3 , 
and in the second advent of our Lord to "judge the 
world in righteousness." 

3 A final restoration of the Jews, and a spiritual reign of Christ 
to prevail after that restoration, are supposed to be foretold in Scrip- 
ture, and were believed so to be from the earliest ages of the Chris- 
tian church. Vid. Deut xxx. 1 — 5. Isaiah ii. 1 — 4. xi. iv. 2 — 4. 
xiv. 1. xxx. 18 — 26. xxxiii. 20 — 24. xxxv. 8 — 10. lx. xlix. 
18—26. Ii. 3—23. liv. 11—14. lxii. lxv. 17—25. Hosea iii. 5. 
Joel ii. and iii. Amos ix. 11 — 15. Micah ii. 12. iv. 3 — 13. vii. 
11—20. Zeph. iii. 8—20. Jer. iii. 16—18. xvi. 15. xxiii. 3—8. 
xxx. 3 — 20. xxxi. 4 — 14. 35 — 40. xxxiii. 7 — 11. Ezek. xx. 
40 — 44. xxviii. 25, 26. xxxiv. 26 — 29. xxxvi. xxxvii. xxxviii. 
and xxxix. Dan. vii. 26, 27. Zechar. viii. 7, 8. Rev. xx. and 
xxi. &c. passim. Vid. also Matt. xx. 21. Acts i. 6. iii. 21. 
Barnab. Epist. c. xv. Justin Martyr Dialog, cum Tryphon. part ii. 
p. 315. edit. Thirlb. Iren. 1. v. c. xxxii — xxxvi. Tertul. cont, 
Marcion. lib. iii. Eyre's Observat. on Prophecy. Wotton Pref. to 
Clem. Epist. p. 15. The doctrine of the Millennium may have 
been carried to an absurd and unwarranted excess ; but some of 
these prophecies relating to this state, even if figuratively taken, are 
seemingly too magnificent to be restricted to the effects of the first 
advent of Christ, and promise at least an effectual and universal 
establishment of his spiritual influence. 



OF THE 

BOOK OF THE PROPHET 
ISAIAH. 



Isaiah, who was professedly the author of this Book, 
and has been universally so considered, informs us, that 
he prophesied during the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, 
and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, who successively flour- 
ished between a.m. 3194 and 3305. He styles himself 
the son of Amoz, by whom we are not to understand 
the Prophet whose name is spelt Amos \ and who was 
nearly coeval with Isaiah himself. It has been sup- 
posed that Isaiah was of the royal blood ; and some 
have maintained that his father Amoz was the son of 
king Joash, and brother to Uzziah, or Azariah, king of 
Judah 2 . He certainly was of that tribe, and of noble 
birth ; and the Rabbins pretend that his father was a 
Prophet, which they collect from a general rule esta- 
blished among them : that the fathers of the Prophets 

1 The Prophet's name is spelt DlDtf ; that of the father of Isaiah, 
yiDrt. Vid. Hieron. Prolog, in Isai. lib, i. p. 6. torn. iii. August, 
de Civit. Dei, lib. xviii. 27- Cyril Prsef. Expos, in Amos. 

2 R. Isa. Abarb. Praef. in Isaiah. Seder Olam Zuta, et in Gemar. 
Codic. Megil. fol. 10. col. 11. 



OF THE BOOK OF ISAIAH. 353 

were themselves Prophets, when their names are men- 
tioned in Scripture 3 . 

Isaiah was the first of the four great Prophets, and 
is represented to have entered on the prophetic office 
in the last year of Uzziah's reign, about 758 years 
before Christ 4 . Some have supposed that he did not 
live beyond the fifteenth or sixteenth year of Hezekiah's 
reign 5 ; in which case he prophesied during the space 
of about forty-five years. But others are of opinion, 
that he survived Hezekiah, and that he was put to 
death in the reign of Manasseth. There is, indeed, a 
Jewish tradition, referred to in the book of the ascen- 
sion of Isaiah 6 , that he suffered martyrdom by com- 
mand of that tyrant, in the first year of his reign, about 
698 years before Christ, being cruelly sawn asunder 
with a wooden saw. On the supposition of the truth 
of this relation, we must allow that he prophesied 
during a space of more than sixty years 7 . 

Several of the fathers have, indeed, borne testimony 
to the tradition 8 ; and St. Paul is generally supposed 
to have referred to it in the epistle to the Hebrews 9 . 

3 Hieron. in Isai. xxxvii. 2. Epiplian. de Vitis Prophet, p. 138. 
and 145. edit. Paris, 1622. 

4 Clem. Alex. Strom, lib. i. p. 391. edit. Potter. He was nearly 
contemporary with Hosea, Joel, Amos, and Micah. 

5 Aben Ezra Com. in Isa. i. 1. He certainly lived beyond the 
fourteenth year of Hezekiah's reign. Vid. 2 Kings xx. 1. 

6 Ch. i. 7. and Justin Martyr Dialog, cum Tryphon. p. 349. 

7 Jotham reigned sixteen years, Ahaz sixteen, and Hezekiah 
twenty-nine. 

8 Tertul. de Patient. § xiv. p. 148. edit. Par. 1664. Origen. 
Epist. ad African, torn. i. p. 20. edit. Par. 1733. et Horn. 1. in 
Isaiam, p. 108. torn. iii. Chrysost. ad Cyriac. Epist. 125. p. 668. 
torn. iii. 

,J Heb, xi. 37. and Pearce on this verse. 

A a 



354 OF THE BOOK OF ISAIAH. 

St. Justin the martyr affirmed, that the Jews had erased 
the disgraceful circumstance from the sacred books; 
and it is not improbable, that the bold spirit of invec- 
tive, and the high character by which Isaiah was dis- 
tinguished, might have irritated a jealous and revenge- 
ful monarch to this act of impious barbarity ; though 
the opprobrium of the deed must be much aggravated, 
if St. Jerom be not mistaken in relating, that Manas- 
seth had received the daughter of Isaiah in marriage \ 
It is added, also, that Manasseth endeavoured to justify 
his cruelty, by pretending that he condemned the Pro- 
phet for saying, that " he had seen the Lord sitting 
upon a throne 2 ;" contrary, as the tyrant affirmed, to 
what is said in Exodus, " there is no man shall see me, 
and live 3 ;" thus hypocritically attempting to veil his 
malice under an appearance of piety. However this 
may have been, the story was certainly embellished 
with many fictitious circumstances ; as, that the Prophet 
was sawed asunder in a cedar which had opened itself 
to receive him in his flight ; and other particulars fabri- 
cated in superstitious reverence for his memory. Epi- 
phanius and Dorotheus, who give this account, add, 
that he was buried near Jerusalem, under the oak 
Rogel, near the royal sepulchre, on the river Siloe, at 
the side of Mount Sion ; and that he remained in his 
tomb to their time ; contrary to what others report of 
his being carried away to Paneada, towards the sources 
of the Jordan ; and from thence to Constantinople, in 
the thirty-fifth year of Theodosius the younger, a.d. 
442. 

The name of Isaiah is, as Vitringa has remarked, in 

1 Hieron. in Isai. iii. 2 Chap, vi. 1. 3 Exod. xxxiii. 20. 



OF THE BOOK OF ISAIAH. 355 

some measure expressive of his character, since it sig- 
nifies, " the salvation of Jehovah." He has always been 
considered as a Prophet of the highest eminence 4 ; and 
looked up to as the brightest luminary of the Jewish 
church. He speaks of himself as enlightened by vision ; 
and he has been emphatically styled the evangelical 
Prophet 5 , so copiously and clearly does he describe the 
Messiah, and characterize his kingdom : favoured, as 
it were, with an intimate view of the Gospel state, 
from the very birth of our Saviour, " to be conceived 
of a virgin G ," to that glorious and triumphant period, 
when every Gentile nation shall bring a clean offering 
to the Lord, and " all flesh shall come to worship" 
before him 7 . The author of Ecclesiasticus, in his fine 
and discriminating encomium on the prophets, says of 
Isaiah, that he " was great and faithful in his vision ;" 
and that " in his time the sun went backward, and he 
lengthened the King's life. He saw by an excellent 
spirit what should come to pass at the last 8 ." It is 
certain also that Isaiah, in addition to his other pro- 
phetic privileges was endowed with the power of per- 
forming miracles 9 . Besides those that are ascribed to 

4 Matt. iv. 14. Rom. x. 16. xxviii. 25. Matt. viii. 17. Luke 
iv. 17. Acts xxviii. 25. also Vitringa's Proleg. p. 16. 2 Kings 
xix. 20. xx. 1, 2. et seq. 2 Chron. xxxii. 20. St. Paul cites his 
work as part of the law. 1 Cor. xiv. 21. . 

5 Hieron. Praef. in Isai. p. 474. torn. i. Epist. xvii. August, de 
Civit. Dei, lib. xviii. c. xxix. Theod. Praef. in Esai. p. 521. torn, 
iii. St. Jerora in his epistle to Pope Damasus, says, what was 
figuratively true, that the seraphim who touched Isaiah's lips with 
fire, conveyed to him the New Testament. Isa. vi. 6, 7. 

6 Chap. vii. 14. 7 Chap. lxvi. 20. 23. 

3 Ecclus. xlviii. 22. 25. Vid. also, Calmet's Pref. and Lowth's 
Praelect. 21. 

9 2 Kings xx. 11. 2 Chron. xxxii. 31. 

a a2 



356 OF THE BOOK OF ISAIAH. 

him in Scripture, tradition relates, that he supplied the 
people besieged under Hezekiah with water from Si- 
loam, while the enemy could not procure it ! . It should 
be observed, that the wife of Isaiah is styled a pro- 
phetess 2 ; and the Rabbins maintain, that she possessed 
the gift of prophecy. He himself appears to have been 
raised up as a striking object of veneration among the 
Jews, and to have regulated his whole conduct in sub- 
serviency to his sacred appointment. His sons, like- 
wise, were for types 3 , and figurative pledges of God's 
assurances ; and their names 4 and actions were designed 
to awaken a religious attention in the persons whom 
they were commissioned to address, and to instruct. 

1 Hence, as some have supposed, was the origin of the Pool of 
Siloam. The word Siloam implies sent. Vid. John ix. 7. Every 
tradition relative to these interesting characters is worth recording. 

2 Chap. viii. 3. 3 Isaiah viii. 18. 

4 Chap. vii. 3. 1W l^ttf signify " a remnant shall return," and 
the words ?1 wn bbw "lilD, which imply " run swiftly to the spoil," 
were intended to be, in some respects, consolatory and auspicious 
even to Ahaz and his subjects, notwithstanding their iniquity. On 
the occasion referred to in this chapter, the Prophet is instructed to 
impart to that monarch the assurance of the deliverance of Jerusalem 
then besieged by the confederate kings of Syria and of Israel, and to 
declare that before the son by whom Isaiah was accompanied, should 
know how to distinguish between good and evil — both the hostile 
nations should be deprived of their kings. The Prophet, if we may 
be allowed to propose an interpretation, supported by good autho- 
rities, of a prophecy involved in much obscurity, seems to point to 
this deliverance as to a sign, that after the termination of the calami- 
ties which impended over Judaea, a virgin should conceive and bear 
a son, and call his name, Emmanuel ; and the fulfilment of the first 
event, certified the miraculous conception and birth of a Saviour, 
by whom the deliverance of all nations should be effected. Vid. 
2 Kings xvi. 5. and xv. 30. Usserii Annales, Vet. Test, ad annum 
3262. p. 89. edit. 1650. Kennicott's Sermon on Isaiah vii. 13 — 
16. Oxford, 1765. 






OF THE BOOK OF ISAIAH. 357 

Isaiah was animated with the most lively zeal for 
God's honour and service. He was employed chiefly 
to preach repentance to Judah ; though he occasionally 
uttered prophecies against the ten tribes, which in his 
time constituted the separate kingdom of Israel. In 
the prudent reigns of Uzziah and Jotham, the kingdom 
of Judah flourished ; but in the time of Ahaz, Isaiah 
had ample subject for reproach, as idolatry was esta- 
blished, even in the temple, and the kingdom nearly 
ruined by the impiety which the king had introduced 
or countenanced. In the reign of Hezekiah, his en- 
deavours to reform the people were more successful ; 
and some piety prevailed, till the seduction of Manas- 
seth completed the triumph of idolatry and sin. 

There are many historical relations scattered through 
this book, which illustrate the designs and occasions of 
the prophecies. The prophetical parts are sometimes 
considered under five divisions. The first part, which 
extends from the beginning to the thirteenth chapter, 
contains five discourses immediately addressed to the 
Jews and Ephraimites, whom the Prophet addresses on 
various subjects, in tones of exhortation and reproof. 
The second part, which extends to the twenty-fourth 
chapter, contains eight discourses, in which the fate of 
other nations, as of the Babylonians, Philistines, Moa- 
bites, Syrians, and Egyptians, is described. The third 
part, which terminates with the thirty-fifth chapter, 
contains God's threats denounced against the disobedient 
Jews, and enemies of the church, interspersed with 
consolatory promises, which were intended to encourage 
those who might have deserved God's favour 5 . The 

5 Isaiah, as well as Nahum, Haggai, and Zechariah, were deemed 
consolatory Prophets. Vid. Abarben. Praef. in Isai. fol. 2. col. 1. 



358 OF THE BOOK OF ISAIAH. 

fourth part, which begins at the fortieth chapter, where 
the prophetic strain is resumed, describes, in four dis- 
courses, the manifestation of the Messiah, with many- 
introductory and attendant circumstances. This divi- 
sion ends at the forty-eighth chapter. The fifth part, 
which concludes the prophecies, describes more par- 
ticularly the appearance of our Saviour, and the cha- 
racter of his kingdom. The historical part, which 
begins with the thirty-sixth, and terminates with the 
thirty-ninth chapter 6 , relates the remarkable events of 
those times in which God employed the ministry of 
Isaiah. 

With respect to chronological arrangement, it must 
be observed, that the first five chapters appear to relate 
to the time of Uzziah 7 . The vision described in the 

lib. i. The remarkable prophecy in the xxxviith chap. 30th ver. 
on occasion of the invasion of Judaea by Sennacherib, probably in 
the Sabbatical year, must have imparted peculiar consolation to the 
Jews under the ravage of a desolating army, and if considered in 
conjunction with the promise of the prolongation of life for fifteen 
years to Hezekiah, when lying under the apprehension of death, 
must have afforded the assurance of immediate relief, and of that 
tranquil enjoyment, of which Hezekiah lived to partake for a period 
graciously extended beyond the term of two Sabbatical years. See 
Allix's Reflections upon the Books of the Holy Scripture, part iii. 
ch. i. p. 226. edit. Oxford, 1822. 

6 The abrupt conclusion of the thirty-eighth chapter, leads us to 
suppose that these historical chapters relating to Hezekiah, were 
inserted from the Second Book of Kings, to illustrate the preceding 
prophecies. Comp. Isa. xxxvi — xxxix. chapters with 2 Kings 
xviii. from verse 13 to verse 19 of ch. xx, 

7 Some think that they belong more properly to the reign of 
Ahaz. Vid. Taylor's Scrip. Divin. p. 328. But the representation 
of the reign of an apostate king, would, perhaps, have been still 
more forcible. Vid. 2 Kings xvi. 3. et seq. The descriptions are 
not too strong for the time of Uzziah, whose individual virtues (of 

7 



OF THE BOOK OF ISAIAH. 359 

sixth chapter must have happened early in the reign of 
Jotham. The next fifteen chapters contain the pro- 
phecies delivered under Ahaz ; and the prophecies 
which follow to the end of the book were probably 
uttered under Hezekiah. Some writers, however, have 
conceived that the chapters have been accidentally 
deranged ; and it is possible that the predictions were 
not delivered by the Prophet exactly in the order in 
which they now stand. Others have attributed the 
dislocations, if there be any, to the men of Hezekiah, 
who are said to have collected those Prophecies 8 . 

When Isaiah entered on the prophetic office, a darker 
scene of things began to arise. As idolatry predomi- 
nated, and the captivity drew near, plainer declarations 
of God's future mercies were necessary to keep alive 
the expectations and confidence of the people. In 
treating of the captivities and deliverance of the He- 
brew nation, he is often led to consider those more 
important captivities and deliverances which these tem- 
poral events foreshowed. Hence, with promises and 
threats of the former, he blends the assurances of final 
troubles and restoration. From the bondage of Israel, 
he, likewise, adverts to the bondage under which the 
Gentile world was held by ignorance and sin ; and 
hence he exhibits, in connected representation, deliver- 
ance from particular afflictions, and the general deli- 
verance from sin and death. The present concern is 
often forgotten in the contemplation of the distant 
prospect. The Prophet passes with rapidity from the 

which indeed the effect was diminished by some misconduct, 2 Chron. 
xx vi. 1.) could not entirely reform the kingdom, or restore its pros- 
perity. Vid. Hieron. Com. in Isai. vi. p. 57. lib. iii. torn. iii. 
8 Jacob. Braudinglerus in Annal. Typ. Bib. Proph. V. T. 



360 OF THE BOOK OF ISAIAH. 

first to the second subject, without intimation of the 
change, or accurate discrimination of their respective 
circumstances ; as, for instance, in the fifty-second 
chapter, where the Prophet, after speaking of the re- 
covery from the Assyrian oppression, suddenly drops 
the idea of the present redemption, and breaks out into 
a rapturous description of the Gospel salvation which it 
prefigured ; which modern Jewish, as well as Christian 
writers, have admitted to import spiritual blessings to 
the Jews, and communion with God, to the Gentiles 9 . 

Among the prophecies of Isaiah which deserve to be 
particularly noted for their especial perspicuity and 
striking accomplishment, are those in which he fore- 
told the captivities of Israel and Judah l ; and described 
the ruin and desolation of Babylon 2 , Tyre 3 , and other 
nations. He speaks of Cyrus by name, and of his con- 
quests, above 1 60 years before his birth 4 , in predictions 
which are supposed to have influenced that monarch to 
release the Jews from captivity 5 , being probably shown 

9 Comp. Isa. lii. 7. with Rom. x. 15. Isa. xi. 10. with Rom. 
xv. 12. Vid. also, chap, xxxiv. xxxv. xl. xlix. Lowth on chap, 
lii. 13. and Abarbenel, and Kimchi, as quoted by Vitringa, on ch. 
xlix. 1. p. 561. pars ii. torn. ii. edit. Leovard. 1724. 

1 Chap, xxxix. 6, 7. comp. with 2 Kings xxiv. 13. and Dan. i. 3. 

2 Chap. xiii. 19—22. xiv. 22—24. xxiii. 13. xlvii. 7, 8. and Lowth 
Com. and Usser. Ann. ad a.m. 3347. ch. xxiii. See Keppel's Per- 
son. Narrat. from India, vol. i. ch. ix. p. 184, 185. 

3 To be forgotten for seventy years, and then restored, xxiii. 15. 
17. 

4 Chap. xliv. 28. xlv. 1 — 5. Joseph. Antiq. lib. xi. c. i. St. 
Jerom has remarked that Xenophon's history is a good comment on 
this prophecy of Isaiah. It shows that he was with some propriety 
chosen as " the shepherd of the Lord." Vid. Hieron. in Isai. xlv. 
lib. xii. p. 332. torn. iii. 

5 Joseph. Antiq. lib. xi. c. i. Ezra i. 2. 



OF THE BOOK OF ISAIAH. 361 

to him by Daniel. But it must be repeated, that the 
prophecies concerning the Messiah seem almost to an- 
ticipate the Gospel and the history of the church to 
the consummation of all things, so clearly do they fore- 
show the Divine character of Christ l ; to be beholden 
as God 2 ; his inexplicable generation 3 , yet human de- 
scent, and inspired wisdom 4 ; his conception and birth 
by the Virgin 5 ; his threefold character of prophet 6 , 
priest 7 , and king 8 ; his advent to be proclaimed by the 
Baptist 9 ; his appointment to preach 10 ; his attributes 
and miracles n ; his peculiar qualities and virtues 12 ; his 
rejection 13 and suffering for our sin 14 ; his death, burial 15 , 
and victory over the grave 16 ; the effusion of the Holy 

1 Chap. vii. 14. compared with Matt. i. 18 — 23. and Luke i. 27 — 
35. Chap. vi. ix. 6. xxxv. 4. xl. 3. 9, 10. xlii. 6 — 8. lxi. 1. comp. 
with Luke iv. 18. lxii. 11. lxiii. 1 — 4. 

2 Chap. xxxv. 4. xl. 9. 3 Chap. liii. 8. 
4 Chap. xi. 1—3. 

■ Isaiah vii. 14. comp. with Gen. iii. 15. and Matt. i. 23. 

6 Chap. xlii. 1. 6. 9. xlix. 1, 2. 6, 7. Iv. 4, 5. 

7 Chap. xl. 11. liii. 10. compare with Eph. v. 2. Heb. x. 5 — 12. 

8 Chap. ix. 6, 7. xxxii. 1, 2. 

9 Chap. xl. 3, 4. comp. with Matt. iii. 3. Mark i. 3. Luke iii. 
4. John i. 23. Malachi iii. 1—3. iv. 5, 6. 

10 Chap. lxi. 1, 2. 

11 Chap. xi. 2. 4. compare with Luke ii. 52. xxxv. 5, 6. xl. 12. 28. 

12 Chap. xi. 2, 3. xl. 11. xliii. 1—3. 

13 Chap. vi. 9 — 12. compare with Mark xiii. 14. Chap. vii. 14, 
15. liii. 3. 

14 Chap. 1. 6. liii. 4 — 11. The Ethiopian eunuch appears to have 
been made a proselyte by St. Philip's explication of this chapter. 
Vid. Acts viii. 32. The whole of it is so minutely descriptive of 
Christ's passion, that a famous Rabbi, likewise, on reading it, was 
converted from Judaism. — Who, indeed, can resist its evidence? 

15 Chap. liii. 8, 9. Matt, xxvii. 57. et Vitringa. 

16 Chap. xxv. 8. liii. 10. 12. 



362 OF THE BOOK OF ISAIAH. 

Spirit l ; the rejection of the Jews 2 ; the calling of the 
Gentile world 3 ; the display of his glory 4 in the setting 
up, increase 5 , and perfection 6 of his kingdom, to be 
preached in the four quarters of the globe 7 ; and the 
manifestation by his presence of the establishment of 
an universal Church 8 : each particular specifically 
pointed out, and pourtrayed with the most striking and 
discriminating characters. It is impossible, indeed, to 
reflect on these, and on the whole chain of his illus- 
trious prophecies, and not to be sensible that they pre- 
sent the most incontestable evidence in support of 
Christianity. 

The style of Isaiah has been universally admired as 
the most perfect model of the sublime; it is distin- 
guished for all the magnificence, and for all the sweet- 
ness of the Hebrew language 9 . The variety of his 
images, and the animated warmth of his expressions, 
characterize him as unequalled in point of eloquence ; 
and if we were desirous of producing a specimen of the 
dignity and beauties of the Scripture language, we 

1 Chap, xxxii. 15. xliv. 3. 2 Chap. lxv. 2. 7. 

3 Chap. xlix. 5—12. 22—24. lxv. 1. 

4 Chap. xlix. 7. 22, 23. Hi. 13—15. liii. 4, 5. 

5 Chap. ii. 2—4. ix. 7, xlii. 4. xlvi. 13. 

6 Chap. ix. 2. 7. xi. 4 — 10. xvi. 5. xxix. 18 — 24. xxxii. 1. xl. 
4, 5. xlix. 9—13. li. 3—6. Hi. 6— 10. Iv. 1—3. lix. 16—21. Ix. lxi. 
1—5. lxv. 25. 

7 Chap. Ixvi. 19—23. 

8 Chap, xxvii. 12, 13. lxii. lxv. 17—25. 

9 See particularly in chap. xiv. the striking representation of the 
vanquished foes of Belshazzar, rising from their tombs to meet and 
deride the king of Babylon when descending to the grave, after his 
glory had departed from him, which is unparalleled in its effect. See 
Lowth's Praelect. 28. 



OF THE BOOK OF ISAIAH. 363 

should immediately think of having recourse to Isaiah l . 
St. Jerom speaks of him as conversant with every part 
of science 2 ; and, indeed, the marks of a cultivated and 
improved mind are stamped on every page of his book ; 
but these are almost eclipsed by the splendour of his 
inspired knowledge. In the delivery of his prophecies 
and instructions, he utters his enraptured strains with 
an elevation and majesty which unhallowed lips could 
never have attained 3 . From the grand exordium in 
the first chapter, to the concluding description of the 

1 The superior eloquence of Isaiah appears remarkably on a com- 
parison of the eleventh and thirty-fifth chapters of his work, with the 
fourth Eclogue of Virgil ; in which the poet has introduced thoughts, 
imagery, and diction, strikingly similar, indeed, to those employed 
by Isaiah, but infinitely inferior as to the effect produced. Virgil is 
supposed to have borrowed from the predictions of the Cumaean Sibyl 
that description of the Golden Age which he represents as ready to 
commence with the birth of some illustrious personage, (as, perhaps, 
the expected offspring of Octavia, or of Scrib'onia.) The images, 
however, were so appropriate to the Messiah and his kingdom, that 
they must have been derived from a sacred source, though it is not 
necessary to consider them as the result of immediate inspiration. 
The Sibylline verses might have been fragments of inspired prophe- 
cies spread abroad in Greek verse by the Hellenistical Jews. Virgil 
might have collected ideas with regard to the expected Messiah from 
the Jews in general, and particularly from Herod, who was about 
this time at Rome, and whose sons when residing there were kindly 
received by Pollio, and by Augustus himself. Vid. Joseph. Antiq. 
lib. xv. c. x. p. 696. edit. Hudson. Or, lastly, the poet, or other 
learned persons among the Romans, might have had some knowledge 
of the Septuagint version of the Scriptures, since they were inquisi- 
tive after all kinds of literature. Vid. Lowth's Praelect. 21. Chand- 
ler's Vindic. ch. ii. § 3. et Postscript, p. 44. and Cudworth's Intel. 
Syst. book i. c. iv. § 16. 

2 Hieron. Prolog, in Isai. torn. iii. p. 3. 

3 Chap. vi. 6, 7. 



364 OF THE BOOK OF ISAIAH. 

Gospel, to " be brought forth " in wonders, and to ter- 
minate in the dispensations of eternity ; from first to 
last, there is one continued display of inspired wisdom, 
revealing its oracles and precepts for the instruction of 
mankind. 

The prophecies of Isaiah were modulated to a kind 
of rhythm, and are evidently divided into certain 
metrical stanzas or lines 4 . 

The Greek version of Isaiah appears to have been 
made long after that of the Pentateuch; it is a very 
lax and inaccurate translation, and was probably com- 
posed after the time of Antiochus Epiphanes 5 . 

Isaiah, besides this book of prophecies, wrote an 
account of the actions of Uzziah 6 ; this has perished 
with some other writings of the Prophets, which, as 
probably not dictated by inspiration, were never ad- 
mitted into the canon of Scripture. Some apocryphal 
books have likewise been attributed to him ; among 
others, that so often cited by Origen, and other fathers, 
entitled the Ascension of Isaiah 7 ; not to mention a 

4 Vitringa, Proleg. in Jesaiam, p. 8. Lowth's Preface, and Scali- 
ger's Animad. in Chron. Euseb. 

5 Those of Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodosion, are now lost. 

6 2 Chron. xxvi. 22. et Vitrin. Proleg. 3. Dr. Kennicott sup- 
poses that Isaiah composed the 89th Psalm on the approach of Rezin 
and Pekah to Jerusalem. 

7 Written probably by a Jew converted to Christianity ; it was 
translated from the Ethiopic by the learned Archbishop of Cashel, 
and published at Oxford in 1819. He supposes it to have been the 
work of a Christian writer. Written, according to the archbishop's 
opinion, about a.d. 68. Origen Epist. ad African, p. 20. note a , torn, 
i. Hieron. in Isai. 64. lib. xvii. p. 473. torn. iii. Epiphan. Hseres. 
40. and 67. 



OF THE BOOK OF ISAIAH. 365 

later book, called the Vision of Isaiah s , which is only 
a compilation from his works. These are probably at- 
tributed to him on as insufficient grounds as are the 
Books of Solomon and Job. 

8 This was published at Venice. Vid. Sixt. Senens. Bib. Sanct. 
in Esai. lib. ii. p. 69. edit. Colon. 1586. 



OF THE 



BOOK OF THE PROPHET 
JEREMIAH. 



Jeremiah was the son of Hilkiah ; and it has been 
supposed of that Hilkiah l who was high priest in the 
reign of Josiah, but certainly he was of sacerdotal ex- 
traction ; and a native of Anathoth, a village about 
three miles from Jerusalem, appointed for the priests, 
in that part of Judsea, which was allotted to the tribe 
of Benjamin 2 . He was called to the prophetic office, 
nearly at the same time with Zephaniah, in the thir- 
teenth year of the reign of Josiah the son of Amon, 
a.m. 3376. Like St. John the Baptist and St. Paul, 
he was even in his mother's womb ordained a Prophet 
to the Jews and other nations 3 . He was not, however, 
expressly addressed by the word of God till about the 
fourteenth year of his age ; when he diffidently sought 

1 2 Kings xxii. 4. Clemens Alexand. Strom, lib. i. p. 390. edit, 
Potter. Sixt. Senens. Bib. Sanct. p. 12. 

2 Hieron. in Jerem. i. 1, 2, 3. Josh. xxi. 13. 18. xviii. 28. 

3 Jerem. i. 5. and Hieron. in Jerem. c. 1. v. 5. lib. i. p. 528. 
torn. iii. 



OF THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH. 367 

to decline the appointment on account of his youth, till 
influenced by Divine encouragement, he obeyed, and 
continued to prophesy upwards of forty years, during 
several successive reigns of the degenerate descendants 
of Josiah ; to whom he fearlessly revealed those marks 
of the Divine vengeance which their fluctuating" and 
rebellious conduct drew on themselves and their coun- 
try 4 . After the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chal- 
deans, he was suffered by Nebuchadnezzar to remain 
and lament the miseries and desolation of Judaea, from 
whence he sent consolatory assurances to his captive 
countrymen. He was afterwards, as we are by himself 
informed, carried with his disciple Baruch into Egypt 5 , 
by Johannan the son of Kareah, who, contrary to his 
advice and prophetic admonition, removed thither from 
Judaea. 

Many circumstances relative to Jeremiah, are inter- 
spersed in his own writings, and many more which 
deserve but little credit, have been recorded by the 
Rabbins and others 6 . He appears during his whole 
life to have been exposed to cruel and unjust persecu- 
tions from the Jews, and especially from those of his 
own village 7 , having particularly excited the resentment 
of the princes, priests, and false prophets, on account 
of the zeal and fervour with which he censured their 
incorrigible sins, and predicted the judgments of the 

* Chap. xxi. 4 — 11. xxiv. 8 — 10. xxxii. 3, 4. xxxiv. 2 — 5. 
comp. with Ezek. xii. 13. and Joseph. Antiq. lib. x. cap. v. vi. vii. 
p. 441—447. edit. Hud. et lib. xi. p. 468. Jer. xxxvi. 30, 31. 

5 Chap, xliii. 3 — 7. Abarbenel erroneously asserts that Jeremiah 
was carried into captivity with Jechoniah, or Jehoiachin ; contrary 
to the Prophet's own account. Vid. Abarb. in Ezek. 

6 2 Mace. ii. 1 — 7. Euseb. Prasp. Evang. lib. ix. c. xxxix. 

7 Chap. xi. 21. Luke iv. 24. 



368 OF THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH. 

Almighty against them ; and he is sometimes provoked 
to break out into the most feeling and bitter complaints 
of the treatment which he received 8 . The author of 
Ecclesiasticus 9 , alluding to his sufferings, remarks, " that 
they intreated him evil, who nevertheless was a Prophet 
sanctified in his mother's womb." According to the 
account of St. Jerom, he was stoned to death at Tah- 
panhes ] , a royal city of Egypt, about 586 years before 
the birth of Christ : either by his own countrymen, as 
is generally maintained, or by the Egyptians, to both of 
which people he had rendered himself obnoxious by the 
terrifying prophecies which he had uttered. The chro- 
nicle of Alexandria relates, that the Prophet had in- 
censed the Egyptians by foretelling that their idols 
should be overthrown by an earthquake when the 
Saviour of the earth should be born and placed in a 
manger. His prophecies, however, which are still ex- 
tant concerning the conquests of Egypt by Nebuchad- 
nezzar, in this respect " the servant of God," must have 
been sufficient to excite the fears and hatred of those 
against whom they were uttered. It was added to this 
account which Ptolemy received, that Alexander the 
Great, visiting the tomb of Jeremiah, and hearing that 
he had uttered predictions concerning his person, or- 
dered that the Prophet's urn should be removed to 
Alexandria, and built a magnificent monument to his 

8 Chap. xx. 7 — 18. 9 Ecclus. xlix. 7. 

1 Jerem. xliii. 7. 9. Heb. xi. 37. Tahpanhes is contracted to 
Hanes by Isaiah, ch. xxx. 4. It is supposed by many to have been 
the city which was afterwards called Daphnse Pelusiacae. Other 
traditions relate, that he was thrown into a pit and transfixed with 
darts. Vid. Gregent. Disput. cum Herban. Jud. p. 19. edit. Lutet. 
Paris. 1586. 



OF THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH. 369 

memory 2 . This was soon rendered an object of general 
attention; and as a reverence for the Prophet's cha- 
racter invested it with imaginary influence, it became 
celebrated as a place of miracles 3 . Other accounts, 
however, relate, that the Prophet returned unto his 
own country ; and travellers are still shown a place in 
the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, where, as they are 
told, Jeremiah composed his prophecies ; and where 
Constantine erected a tomb to his memory. 

Jeremiah, who professes himself the author of these 
prophecies 4 , employed Baruch as his amanuensis in 
committing them to writing 5 . He appears to have 
made at different times, collections of what he had 
delivered. The first seems to have been composed in 
the fourth year of Jehoiakim, when the Prophet was 
expressly commanded by God to write upon a roll, all 
the prophecies which he had uttered concerning Israel, 
Judah, and other nations 6 ; this he did by means of 
Baruch. But this roll being burnt by Jehoiakim 7 , 
another was written under Jeremiah's direction, with 

2 Abulfaragius Hist. Orient. Dynast. III. Jean Mosque Pre. 
Spirituel, chap, lxxviii. Raleigh's Hist, of the World, book ii. p. 
555. 

3 Crocodiles and serpents were supposed to be unable to live near 
it, and the dust of the place is now deemed a cure for the bite of the 
asp. Many other similar fictions were engendered by superstitious 
respect for the Prophet's memory. 

* Chap. i. 1. 4. 6. 9. xxv. 13. xxix. 1. xxx. 2. Ii. 60. 

5 Chap, xxxii. 4. xlv. 1. 

6 Jerem. xxxvi. 2. xxv. 13. 

7 Chap, xxxvi. 23. The Jews instituted an annual fast in com- 
memoration of the burning of this roll, which is still observed in 
December, on the 29th day of the month Casleu. Vid. Prid. vol. i. 
part i. p. 50. fol. 1717. 

Bb 



370 OF THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH. 

many additional particulars 8 . In the eleventh year of 
Zedekiah, the prophet appears to have collected into 
one book all the prophecies that he had delivered before 
the taking of Jerusalem 9 . To this, probably, he after- 
wards added such further revelations as he had occa- 
sionally received during the government of Gedaliah, 
and during the residence in Egypt, the account of which 
terminates with the fifty-first chapter. The fifty-second 
chapter, which is compiled from the five last chapters 
of the second book of Kings \ was probably not written 
by Jeremiah, as it contains in part a repetition of what 
the Prophet had before related in the thirty-ninth and 
fortieth chapters of his book, and some circumstances 
which, as it has been supposed, did not happen till after 
the death of Jeremiah. It is evident also from the in- 
timation conveyed in the last verse " thus far the words 
of Jeremiah," that his book there terminates. The 
fifty-second chapter was, therefore, probably added by 
Ezra 2 , as an exordium to the Lamentations. It is, 
however, a very useful appendage, as it illustrates the 
accomplishment of Jeremiah's prophecies relative to 
the captivity and the fate of Zedekiah. 

The prophecies, as they are now placed, appear not 
to be arranged in the chronological order in which they 
were delivered 3 . Whether they were originally so 
compiled by Jeremiah, or Ezra ; or whether they had 
been accidentally transposed, cannot now be determined. 

8 Chap, xxxvi. 32. 9 Chap. i. 3. 

1 2 Kings xxiv. 18 — 20. xxv. 

2 Sixtus Senensis, without a sufficient authority, attributes it to 
Baruch, Bib. Sanct. lib. i. p. 12. 

3 Origen Epist. ad African, p. 15. torn. i. Hieron. Prolog, in 
Jerem. p. 526-7. torn. 3. Blaney's Translat. of Jeremiah. 






OF THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH. 371 

It is generally maintained, that if we consult the dates 
of their publication, they should be placed thus : 

In the reign of Josiah, the first twelve chapters. 

In that of Jehoiakim, chapters xiii. — xx. — xxi. ver. 
11 — 14. xxii. xxiii. xxv. xxvi. xxxv. xxxvi. xlv. — 
xlix. ver. 1—33. 

In that of Zedekiah, chap. xxi. 1 — 10. xxiv. xxvii. — 
xxxiv. xxxvii. — xxxix. xlix. vers. 34 — 39. 1. and ii. 

Under the government of Gedaliah, chap. xl. — xliv. 

Jeremiah does not seem to have received any reve- 
lations from God in the short intermediate reigns of 
Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah, or of Jeconiah, the son of 
Jehoiakim. 

The prophecies which related to the Gentiles are 
contained in the forty-sixth and five following chapters, 
being placed at the end, as in some measure uncon- 
nected with the others. But in some copies of the 
Septuagint 4 these six chapters follow immediately after 
the thirteenth verse of the twenty-fifth chapter. Though 
the Israelites had been carried captive before Jeremiah 
began to prophesy, he occasionally addressed the ten tribes, 
as some remains of them were still left in Samaria. 

The prophecies of Jeremiah, of which the circum- 
stantial accomplishment is often specified in the Old 
and New Testament, are of a very distinguished and 
illustrious character. He foretold the fate of Shallum 5 , 
of Jehoiakim 6 , Coniah 7 , and Zedekiah 8 ; he predicted 

* As in the Vatican and Alexandrian. 

5 Ch. xxii. 11, 12. 6 Ch. xxii. IS, 19. 

7 Ch. xxii. 24 — 30. comp. with Ezek. xxi. 2. the Prophet ap- 
parently predicting the fate of the mother (v. 26.) and a failure in 
the issue and sovereignty of Coniah. 

8 Ch. xxxiv. 2 — 5. comp. with 2 Chron. xxxvi. 20. 2 Kings 
xxv. and Jerem. xix. 6, 7. Hi. 11. 

Bb2 



372 OF THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH. 

the fate of Pharaoh-hophra l , the Babylonish captivity, 
the complicated miseries 2 which were to precede and 
characterize the desolation of Jerusalem, when its tem- 
ple should be destroyed, and the city be deserted of 
God, like Shiloh when deprived of the ark 3 ; and the 
fate of those who should remain there 4 ; the precise 
period of the detention of the people in Assyria 5 ; and 
their return to their fields and vineyards 6 . He de- 
scribed the destruction of Babylon 7 ; and the downfall 
of many nations 8 ; in predictions, of which the gradual 
and progressive completion kept up the confidence of 
the Jews in the accomplishment of those prophecies 
which he delivered relative to the Messiah and his 
period 9 . He foreshowed the miraculous conception of 
Christ ,0 ; the virtue of his atonement ; the spiritual 
character of his covenant ; and the inward efficacy of 
his laws n . 

Jeremiah, contemplating those calamities which im- 
pended over his country, represented in the most de- 
scriptive terms, and under the most expressive images, 

1 Ch. xliv. 30. Herod, lib. ii. c. 163 and 169. 

2 Ch. xiv. 1—12. xxi. 8—10. xix 6, 7. 

3 Ch. vii. 12-14. 4 Ch. xxvii. 6 — 8. 

5 Ch. xxv. 11, 12. comp. with Dan. ix. 2. xxiv. 10. Ezra i. 1. 
Prid. Con. An. ,518. Newton's 8th and 11th Dissert, on the Pro- 
phecies. 

6 Ch. xxxii. 14. 15. 

7 Ch. Ii. 47. and Herod, lib. i. c. 191. p. 90. See also Keppel's 
Person. Narrat. from India, vol. i. c. 9. p. 199 — 202. 

8 Ch. xxv. 12. Vid. also ch. ix. 26. xxv. 19—25. xlii. 10—18. 
xlvi. and following chapter. And Newton's Dissert. XII. 

9 Ch. xxiii. 5, 6. xxx. 9. xxxi. 15. xxxiii. 14 — 18. xxxiii. 9. 
26. Huet. Demon. Evang. Prop. vii. § 16. p. 312. edit. 1679. 

10 Ch. xxxi. 22. n Ch. xxiii. 5, 6. xxxi. 31 — 36. xxxiii. 8. 



OF THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH. 373 

the destruction that the invading enemy should pro- 
duce. He bewailed in pathetic expostulation, the 
shameless adulteries which had provoked the Almighty, 
after long forbearance, to threaten Judah with inevit- 
able punishment, at the time that false prophets de- 
luded the nation with the promises of " assured peace," 
and when the people, in impious contempt of " the 
Lord's word," defied its accomplishment \ Jeremiah 
intermingles with his prophecies some historical rela- 
tions relative to his own conduct, and to the comple- 
tion of those predictions which he had delivered. The 
reputation of Jeremiah had spread among foreign na- 
tions, and his prophecies were deservedly celebrated in 
other countries 2 . Many heathen writers have likewise 
undesignedly borne testimony to the truth and accu- 
racy of the prophetic and historical descriptions of the 
book 3 . 

The style of Jeremiah, though not devoid of occa- 
sional splendour and sublimity, is certainly inferior to 
that of Isaiah 4 ; it is more plain and simple than that 
of any of the Prophets, excepting perhaps that of 
Obadiah. St. Jerom 5 objects a certain rusticity of 
expression to him ; but which it would not be easy to 
point out. His images are, perhaps, less lofty, and his 

1 Chap, xxxvi. 22, 23. xxviii. 4 — 6. 

2 Euseb. Praep. Evan. lib. ix. c. 39. p. 454. 

3 Vid. Herodotus, Xenophon Cyropaed. Joseph. Ant. lib. x. c. vi. 
Compare particularly the accounts of the taking of Babylon, as de- 
scribed prophetically by Jeremiah in chap. 1. 24. 38. li. and histori- 
cally by Herodotus, lib. i. c. 190, 191. 

4 Lowth's Praelect. 21. xliii. 10—13. 

5 Hieron. Prolog, in Jerem. p. 551-2. torn. 1. Cunaeus de Repub. 
Heb. lib. iii. cap. vii. Critic. Sacr. torn. 8. p. 915. 



374 OF THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH. 

expressions less dignified than those of some others of 
the sacred writers ; but the character of his work, which 
breathes a tenderness of sorrow calculated to awaken 
and interest the milder affections, leads him to reject 
the majestic and declamatory tone in which the pro- 
phetic censures were sometimes conveyed. St. John 
seems to have borrowed his expressions with respect to 
the fate of Babylon, and to have applied them to the 
fall which he foretels of the spiritual city which Baby- 
lon prefigured 6 . The holy zeal of the Prophet is, 
however, often excited to a very vigorous eloquence in 
inveighing against the frontless audacity with which 
men gloried in their abominations 7 . The first part of 
the book is chiefly poetical, and, indeed, nearly one 
half of the work is composed in some kind of measure. 
The historical part, towards the middle of the work, is 
written with much simplicity of style. The six last 
chapters, which are entirely in verse, contain several 
predictions delivered in a high strain of dignity. The 
descriptions of Jeremiah have all the vivid colouring 
that might be expected from a painter of contemporary 
scenes. The historical part has some characters of 
antiquity that ascertain the date of its composition. 

6 Chap. li. 6. 59. compare with Rev. xviii. 

7 The Prophet is very animated in his admonitions against idola- 
try, being willing to caution the people against the temptations 
which they would encounter in the captivity. It is remarkable, 
that the eleventh verse of the tenth chapter, which contains a pious 
sentiment which the Jews are directed to utter as a profession of 
their faith, is written in Chaldee ; that they might be furnished with 
the very words that they should answer to those who would seduce 
them. 



OF THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH. 375 

The months are reckoned by numbers; a mode which 
did not prevail after the captivity, when they were dis- 
tinguished by Chaldaic names. Besides the eleventh 
verse of the tenth chapter, which is written in Chaldee, 
there are likewise a few Chaldaic expressions, which 
about the time of Jeremiah must have begun to vitiate 
the Hebrew language. 

Jeremiah appears to have been pre-ordained as a 
Prophet both to the Jews and the Gentiles 8 . He cer- 
tainly delivered many prophecies relative to foreign 
nations. His name translated is " He shall exalt Jeho- 
vah :" and his whole life was spent in endeavouring to 
promote God's glory. His reputation was so consider- 
able that some of the fathers 9 fancifully supposed that 
as his death is no where mentioned in Scripture, he 
was living in the time of Christ, whom, as the Gospel 
informs us, some supposed to have been this Prophet \ 
They likewise applied to him and Elias what St. John 
mysteriously speaks of two witnesses that should pro- 
phesy 1260 days 2 : which superstitious fictions serve, 
at least, to prove the traditional reverence that was 
entertained for the memory of the Prophet ; who long 
afterwards continued to be venerated in the Romish 
church as one of the greatest saints that had flourished 
under the old covenant ; as having lived not only with 
the general strictness of a Prophet, but, as was believed, 
in a state of celibacy 3 ; and as having terminated his 
righteous ministry by martyrdom. 

8 Chap. i. 5—10. 

9 Victorin. Biblioth. Patr. torn. 3. p. 140. in Apoc. cap. xi. 3. 
Plures apud Hilar, in Matt. cap. xx. p. 710. edit. Paris. 1693. 

1 Matt. xvi. 14. 2 Rev. xi. 3. 

J Chap. xvi. 2. How far the restriction here enjoined was of a 



376 



OF THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH, 



typical, or temporary and local nature is uncertain. The Chaldee 
Paraphrase supposes the Prophet to have had children. Vid. Com. 
on Jerem. xxxvii. 12, 

[The Rechabites, who are mentioned in the 35th chapter, have 
been found in Arabia by Niebuhr and Wolfe, where they exist as a 
separate and distinct people to this day, as a living monument of the 
fulfilment of Jeremiah's prediction, that " Jonadab the son of Re- 
chab, shall not want a man to stand before me for ever." Jerenu 
ch. xxxv. 19.] 



OP THE 

BOOK OF THE LAMENTATIONS 



OF 



JEREMIAH. 



The Jews denominate this book A-i-cah \ from the first 
word of the text ; or sometimes they call it Kinoth 2 , 
which implies tears, alluding to the mournful character 
of the work, of which one would conceive, says Lowth, 
" that every letter was written with a tear, every word 
the sound of a broken heart 3 ." The book was com- 
posed by Jeremiah, as he informs us in the title, and 
as the unvaried tradition of the church declares. It 
contains passages expressive of the afflictions to which 
the prophet was subjected 4 . The style, indeed, itself, 
indicates the same hand which composed the preceding 
book. Upon what occasion these Lamentations were 
produced, cannot be positively determined. In the 
Second Book of Chronicles 5 , it is said, that " Jere- 

1 ro>«, How. 

2 nu»p, Kinoth. Opr)voL t Lamentations. 

3 Also Gregor. Nazianz. Orat. iv. p. 125. and Orat. xii. p. 201. 

4 Chap. iii. 1 — 7. 55, 56. compare with Jer. xxxviii. 7 — 12. 

5 2 Chron, xxxv. 25. 



378 THE LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH. 

miah lamented for Josiah ;" and Josephus 6 , and other 
writers 7 , suppose that the work which we now possess 
was written upon the occasion of that monarch's death ; 
maintaining that the calamities which only three 
months after attended the deposition of Jehoahaz, 
were so considerable as to correspond with the descrip- 
tion of the Prophet, though they are not minutely de- 
tailed in the sacred history. The generality of the 
commentators are, however, of a different opinion ; 
and, indeed, Jeremiah here bewails the desolation of 
Jerusalem ; the captivity of Judah ; the miseries of 
famine ; and the cessation of all religious worship, in 
terms so forcible and pathetic, that they appear rather 
applicable to some period after the destruction of Jeru- 
salem 8 , when, agreeably to his own predictions, every 
circumstance of complicated distress overshadowed 
Judsea 9 . But upon whatever occasion these Lamen- 
tations were composed, they are evidently descriptive 
of past events, and cannot be considered as prophetic 
elegies. 

Some Jewish writers imagined, that this was the 
book which Jeremiah dictated to Baruch, and which 
was cut and burnt by Jehoiakim 1 . But there is no 
foundation for this opinion, for the book dictated to 

6 Joseph. Antiq. Jud. lib. x. c. v. p. 441. 

7 Hieron. in Lament. Procem. p. 801-2. torn. 5. R. Selom. La- 
ment, ch. iv. 20. Michaelis note in Prselect. 23. Usser. Annal. 
a. m. 3394. and Lam. ch. v. 7. which Michaelis considers as a com- 
plaint more just and reasonable in the time of Josiah than in that of 
Zedekiah ; but neither this nor ch. iv. 20. are more applicable to the 
former than the latter king. 

8 Chap. i. 1. 3. 6. 12. 18. ii. 5, 6, 7. 16. iv. 6. 10. 22. v. 6. 18. 

9 Jer. xx. 4. may allude to the fate of Zedekiah. 
1 Jerem. xxxvi. 4 — 23. 



THE LAMENTATION'S OF JEREMIAH. 379 

Baruch contained many prophetic threats 2 against 
various nations of which there are no traces in this 
book. In the Greek, Arabic, and Vulgate versions, 
there is a spurious prefatory argument, which is not 
in the Hebrew, nor in the Chaldee paraphrase, any 
more than in the version of St. Jerom, who followed 
the Hebrew. It may be thus translated : " It came to 
pass, that after Israel had been carried away captive, 
and Jerusalem became desolate, the Prophet Jeremiah 
sat weeping, and bewailed Jerusalem with this lamen- 
tation, and bitterly weeping and mourning, said as 
follows." This was probably added by the Greek 
translators, in lieu of the fifty-second chapter of Jere- 
miah's prophecies, which they rejected from this to the 
preceding book 3 . The lamentations were certainly 
annexed originally to the prophecies of Jeremiah, and 
were admitted together with them into the Hebrew 
canon as one book. The modern Jews, however, place 
this work in their copies among other smaller tracts, 
such as Ruth, and Canticles, &c. at the end of the 
Pentateuch, having altered the arrangement of the 
books of Scripture from the order which they held in 
Ezra's collection. 

With respect to the plan of this work, it is com- 
posed after the manner of funeral odes, though without 
any very artificial disposition of its subject. It appears 
to contain the genuine effusions of real grief ; in which 
the author, occupied by his sorrow, attends not to exact 
connexion between the different parts, but pours out 
whatever presents itself. He dwells upon the same 

2 Chap, xxxvi. 2. 

3 Huet. Prop. iv. p. 214. edit. Par. 1679. 

1 



380 THE LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH. 

ideas, and amplifies the same thoughts, by new expres- 
sions and figures, as is natural to a mind intent on sub- 
jects of affliction. There is, however, no wild incohe- 
rency in the contexture of the work : but the transi- 
tions are easy and elegant ; it is, in fact, a collection of 
distinct sentences, probably uttered at different times, 
upon the same subject, which are properly entitled 
Lamentations. 

The work is divided into five parts : in the first, 
second, and fourth chapters, the Prophet speaks in his 
own person ; or by a very elegant and interesting per- 
sonification, introduces Jerusalem, as speaking 4 . In 
the third chapter, a chorus of the Jews speaks as one 
person, like the Coryphaeus of the Greeks. In the 
fifth, which forms a kind of epilogue to the work, the 
whole nation of the captive Jews is introduced in one 
body, as pouring out complaints and supplications to 
God. Each of these five parts is distributed into 
twenty-two periods or stanzas, in correspondence with 
the number of the Hebrew letters. In the three first 
chapters, these periods generally consist of triplets 5 . 
In the four first chapters, the initial letter of each 
period follows the order of the alphabet ; and in the 
third chapter, each verse of the same stanza begins 
with the same letter 6 . In the fourth chapter, all the 

4 In the first verse, Jerusalem is described as sitting pensive and 
solitary, as Judaea was afterwards represented on the coins of Vespa- 
sian and Titus. Sitting was a natural posture of sorrow ; and the 
picture of sedentary affliction was familiar to the Jews. Vid. Job ii. 
13. Psalm cxxxvii. I. Ezek. iii. 15. Addison's Dialogue on 
Medals, vol. i. p. 518. 

5 There is, however, in each of the two first chapters, one tetra- 
colon, or stanza of four lines, in chap. i. t, in chap. ii. p. 

6 The third chapter has sixty-six verses in our translation, because 



THE LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH. 381 

stanzas are evidently distiches 7 , as also in the fifth, 
which is not acrostick. The intention of this acros- 
tick, or alphabetic arrangement, was probably to assist 
the memory in retaining sentences not much con- 
nected 8 , and the same method was adopted, and is 
still used by the Syrians, Arabians, and Persians 9 . It 
is remarkable, also, that though the verses of the fifth 
chapter are short, yet those of the other chapters seem 
to be nearly half as long again as those which usually 
occur in Hebrew poetry ; and the Prophet appears to 
have chosen this measure as more flowing, and accom- 
modated to the effusions of sorrow, and, therefore, more 
agreeable to the nature of a dirge l . 

This poem affords the most elegant variety of striking 
images that ever, probably, was displayed in so small a 
compass 2 . The scenes of affliction, the circumstances 
of distress, are painted with such beautiful combina- 
tion, that we contemplate, everywhere, the affecting 
picture of desolation and misery. The Prophet reite- 
rates his complaints in the most pathetic style; and 
aggravates his sorrow with a boldness and force of de- 

each of the twenty-two periods is divided into three verses, according 
to the initial letters. It is remarkable that, in the second, third, and 
fourth chapters, the initial letter a is placed before tf, contrary to the 
order observed in the alphabet, and in the first chapter, as well as in 
the acrostic Psalms. 

7 The stanza D, as now read, cannot well be divided into verses. 

8 The Lamentations appear to have been sung in public service. 
Vid. Lowth's Praelect. 22. and Preface to Isaiah, p. 31. 

9 Assemanni Bibliothec. Oriental, torn. iii. p. 63. 180. 188. 328. 

1 The Lamentations which occasionally occur, appear all to be 
composed of this long measure, which may be supposed to have been 
properly the elegiac measure of the Hebrews. See 2 Sam. i. 19 — 27. 
Ezek. xxviii. 11 — 19. 

2 Lowth's Praelect. 22. 



382 THE LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH. 

cription that correspond with the magnitude and reli- 
gious importance of the calamities exposed to view. 
In the instructive strain of an inspired writer, he re- 
minds his countrymen of the grievous rebellions that 
had provoked the Lord " to abhor his sanctuary ;" con- 
fesses that it was of God's mercies that they were not 
utterly consumed : and points out the sources of evil in 
the iniquities of their false prophets and priests. He 
then with indignant irony threatens Edom with de- 
struction for rejoicing over the miseries of Judaea ; 
opens a consolatory prospect of deliverance and future 
protection to Zion ; and concludes with a most inte- 
resting address to God, to " consider the reproach of 
his people, and to renew their prosperity." 

It is worthy to be observed, that Jeremiah, in endea- 
vouring to promote resignation in his countrymen, re- 
presents his own deportment under afflictions, in terms 
which have a prophetic cast, so strikingly are they de- 
scriptive of the patience and conduct of our Saviour 
under his sufferings 3 . The Prophet, indeed, in the 
meek endurance of unmerited persecution, was an 
illustrious type of Christ. 

Jeremiah is represented in some titles to have been 
the author of the 137th Psalm 4 ; as likewise to have 
composed the 65th 5 in conjunction with Ezekiel ; but 

3 Chap. i. 12. iii. 1—30. 

4 This is ascribed to him in some Latin copies, as it formerly was 
in some Greek manuscripts ; but it seems to have been written by- 
some captives at Babylon. 

5 The titles in the Greek and Latin copies which assign this Psalm 
to Jeremiah and Ezekiel, are of little or no authority. The Psalm 
was probably written by David, upon the occasion of some gracious 
rain after a drought, or perhaps by Haggai, or some Prophet after the 
return from the captivity. Vid. Calmet. 



THE LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH. 383 

probably neither of them were the production of his 
pen. The author of the second Book of Maccabees 6 , 
speaks of some recorded instructions of the Prophet, 
which are no longer extant. In the Vatican library 
are some compositions in Greek, attributed to Jere- 
miah, containing spurious letters from Baruch and 
Ebedmelech to the Prophet, and supposititious answers 
from him. 

6 2 Mace. ii. 1—7, 



OF THE 

BOOK OF THE PROPHET 
EZEKIEL. 



Ezekiel, who was the third of the great Prophets, was 
the son of Buzi, a descendant of Aaron, of the tribe of 
Levi, that is, of the sacerdotal race. He is said to have 
been a native of Serara, and to have been carried 
away captive at the age of thirteen to Babylon, with 
Jehoiachin, king of Judah, a.m. 3406 *. He settled, or 
was placed, with many others of his captive country- 
men, on the banks of the Chebar 2 , a river of Mesopo- 
tamia ; where he was favoured with the Divine revela- 
tions which are described in this book. He is supposed 
to have prophesied during a period of twenty-one years. 
He appears to have been mercifully raised up to ani- 
mate the despondency of his contemporaries in their 
sufferings and afflictions ; and to assure them that they 
were deceived in supposing, according to the represen- 
tations of false prophets, that their countrymen who 

1 Pseudo-Epiphan. in Vit. Prophet. Joseph, lib. x. c. vi. p. 443. 

2 Called, by Ptolemy and Strabo, Chaboras, or Aboras ; and by 
Pliny, Cobaris. It flows into the eastern side of the Euphrates at 
Circesium, or Carchemish, almost 200 miles to the north of Babylon. 



OF THE BOOK OF EZEKIEL. 385 

remained in Judaea were in happier circumstances than 
themselves. With this view he describes that melan- 
choly scene of calamities which was about to arise in 
Judaea; and thence proceeds to predict the universal 
apostacy of the Jews, and the total destruction of their 
city and temple ; adverting, also, occasionally, to those 
punishments which awaited their enemies ; and inter- 
spersing assurances of the final accomplishment of 
God's purpose, with prophetic declarations of the ad- 
vent of the Messiah, under whom Israel and Judah 
should be reunited, and the people be purified and re- 
generated to a new spirit, and the sanctuary of God be 
established in the midst of them for ever 3 . 

The name of Ezekiel 4 was happily expressive of that 
inspired confidence and fortitude which he displayed, 
as well in supporting the adverse circumstances of the 
captivity, as in censuring the sins and idolatrous pro- 
pensities of his countrymen. He began to deliver his 
prophecies about eight or ten years after Daniel, in the 
fifth year of Jehoiachin's captivity ; and as some have 
supposed, in the thirtieth year of his age 5 . 

3 Chap, xxxvi. 25 — 38. 

4 Ezekiel, VtfpTrv. The word seems to imply the power of God 
girding with strength. It is compounded of a verb in the future 
tense, importing to bind, and of the name of God. 

5 Ezek. i. 1. Hieron. in loc. lib. i. p. 699. torn. 3, &c. Usher, 
Prideaux, and others, reckon the thirty years here spoken of, as well 
as the forty days or years mentioned in chap. iv. 6. from the time of 
the covenant made by Josiah in the eighteenth year of his reign. Vid. 
2 Kings xxiii. 3. according to which computation this thirtieth year 
corresponds with a.m. 3410, and the fifth year of Jehoiachin's cap- 
tivity. Other chronologists, however, conceive it to be the thirtieth 
year of Ezekiel's age ; or the thirtieth year of Nabopolasser's reign ; 
and others the thirtieth year from the Jubilee. Vid. Usher ad a.m. 

CC 



386 OF THE BOOK OF EZEKIEL. 

The Divine instructions were first revealed to him in 
a glorious vision, in which he beheld a representation, 
or as he himself reverently expresses it, " the appear- 
ance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord," attended 
by his cherubims symbolically pourtrayed. " The word 
of the Lord came expressly " unto him, and he received 
his commission by a voice, which was followed by a 
forcible influence of the Spirit, and by awful directions 
for his conduct 6 . He appears to have executed his 
high trust with great fidelity. The author of Eccle- 
siasticus 7 says of him, that " he directed them who 
went right ; which may be considered as a merited 
encomium on the judgment and industry with which 
he endeavoured to instruct and guide his countrymen 
in righteousness. He is reported by some writers to 
have presided in the government of the tribes of Gad 
and Dan in Assyria ; and among other fabulous mira- 
cles, to have punished them for idolatry by a fearful 
destruction produced by serpents. In addition to these 
popular traditions it is reported, that his countrymen 
were so incensed by his reproaches as to put him to a 
cruel death 8 . In the time of Epiphanius it was super- 
stitiously believed that his remains were deposited in 
the same sepulchre with those of Shem and Arphaxad, 
which was supposed to be situated between the river 
Euphrates and that of Chaboras ; and which was much 
resorted to 9 , not only by the Jews, but also by the 

3409. Prid. An. a.c. 594. Scaliger Can. Isag. p. 28. Ezekiel 
usually dates his prophecies from the sera of his appointment to the 
prophetic office. 

6 Chap. i. ii. and iii. 7 Ecclus. xlix. 9. et Arnald. 

8 Sixtus Senensis. Huet, &c. 

9 Benjamin Tudela relates, that a magnificent roof was built to it 



OF THE BOOK OF EZEKIEL. 387 

Medes and Persians : who reverenced the tomb of the 
Prophet with extravagant devotion. 

The authenticity of Ezekiel's book will not admit of 
a question. He represents himself as the author, in 
the beginning and other parts of it, and justly assumes 
the character and pretensions of a Prophet ] ; as such 
he has been universally regarded. A few writers, in- 
deed, of very inconsiderable authority, have fancied, 
from the first word of the Hebrew text, in which they 
suppose the initial letter Vau to be a connexive par- 
ticle, that what we possess of Ezekiel is but the frag- 
ment of a larger work. But there is no shadow of 
foundation for this conjecture, since it was very cus- 
tomary to begin a discourse in that language with the 
particle Vau 2 , which we properly paraphrase, " Now 
it came to pass." It has been asserted, likewise, on 
Talmudical authority, that certain Rabbins deliberated 
concerning the rejection of this book from the canon, 
on account of some passages in it which they conceived 
to be contradictory to the principles of the Mosaic 
law 3 . If they had any such intention, they were soon 

by Jechoniah ; and, likewise, a synagogue and library were erected 
there, in which was deposited a manuscript of Ezekiel's prophecies, 
that was read on the day of expiation. The pretended tomb of Eze- 
kiel is still shown, about fifteen leagues from Bagdad. 

1 Chap. i. 1. ii. 2. 5. Clemens Romanus 1st Epist. ad Cor. c. 17. 

2 Jonah i. 1. and the beginning of most of the historical books of 
Scripture, also Calmet Preface sur Ezechiel. 

3 Comp. Ezek. xviii. 20. with Exod. xxxiv. 7. The people 
whom Ezekiel addressed, presumptuously complained that they were 
punished for the sins of their forefathers, though, in truth, they had 
merited their captivity by persisting in evil. God, therefore, very 
consistently with his former declarations, threatened by Ezekiel to 
make such distinction between the righteous and the wicked, that 

cc 2 



388 OF THE BOOK OF EZEKIEL. 

convinced of their mistake, and gave up the design. 
But the Jews, indeed, did not suffer the book, or at 
least the beginning of it, to be read by any who had 
not attained their thirtieth year 4 ; and restrictions 
were imposed upon commentators who might be dis- 
posed to write upon it. 5 . 

St. Jerom has remarked, certainly with great truth, 
that the visions of Ezekiel are sometimes very myste- 
rious, and of difficult interpretation, and that they may 
be reckoned among the things in Scripture, which are 
" hard to be understood 6 ." Ezekiel himself, well aware 
of the mysterious character of those representations 
which he beheld in vision, and of the necessary obscu- 
rity which must attend the description of them to 
others, humbly represented to God that the people 
accused him of speaking darkly " in parables V It 
appears to have been God's design to cheer the droop- 
ing spirits of his people, but only by communicating 
such encouragement as was consistent with a state of 
punishment, and calculated by indistinct intimations, 
to keep alive a watchful and submissive confidence. 
For this reason, perhaps, the prophecies of Ezekiel, 
which were revealed amidst the gloom of captivity, 
were designedly obscure in their nature ; but though 

each man should be sensible of having deserved his sufferings. And 
he assured the people, with especial reference to eternal punishment, 
that " the soul that sinned it should die ;" and that " the son should 
not bear the iniquity of his father ;" and that each should be re- 
sponsible for his own conduct, 

4 Calraet's Diet. D'Herbelot. Bibliot. Orient, p. 942. 

8 Cunaeus de Rep. Heb. 17. ap, Crit. Sac. torn. viii. p. 848. edit. 
Lond. 1660. 

6 Hieron. Praefat. et Prolog, in Ezech. Villalpandus, &c. 

7 Ezek. xx. 49. 



OF THE BOOK OF EZEKIEL. 389 

mysterious in themselves, they are related by the Pro- 
phet in a plain and historical manner. He seems to 
have been desirous of conveying to others the strong 
impressions which he received, as accurately as they 
were capable of being described. 

The representations which Ezekiel beheld in vision, 
are capable of a very interesting and instructive illus- 
tration from other parts of Scripture : as may be seen 
in the commentaries of various writers who have under- 
taken to explain their allusive character ; the figurative 
directions also, which the Prophet received in them 
with relation to his own conduct, were very consistent 
with the dignity of his character, and the design of his 
mission. Some of these directions were given, indeed, 
only by way of metaphorical instruction ; for when 
Ezekiel is commanded to " eat the roll of prophecy," 
we readily understand that he is enjoined only to re- 
ceive, and thoroughly to digest its contents 8 ; and 
when he professes to have complied with the command, 
we perceive that he speaks only of a transaction in 
vision. With respect to some other relations of this 
nature contained in Ezekiel's book 9 , whether we sup- 
pose them to be descriptive of real, or of imaginary 
events, they are very reconcileable with what may be 
conceived to have been the Divine intention in the 

8 Chap. iii. 1 — 3. see also Jer. xv. 16. and Rev. x. 8 — 10. 

9 In the general preface to the Prophets, Ezekiel is supposed to 
have actually removed his household stuff, as thus prophesying by a 
sign ; and this supposition seems to be authorized by the account- 
Vid. Ezek. xii. 7. and Waterland in Ezek. So, also, when deprived 
of his wife, he certainly refrained from the customary show of grief, 
as a sign of the unprecedented and inexpressible sorrow under which 
the Jews should pine away on the destruction of their temple. Vid. 
chap, xxiv, 16. et seq. 



390 OF THE BOOK OF EZEKIEL. 

employment of the Prophet. On a supposition that 
they were real, we may reasonably suppose a miracu- 
lous assistance to have been afforded when necessary ; 
and if we consider them as imaginary, they might be 
represented equally as emblematical forewarnings re- 
vealed to the Prophet l . 

The Book of Ezekiel is sometimes distributed by the 
following analysis, under different heads. After the 
three first chapters, in which the appointment of the 
Prophet is described, the wickedness and impending 
punishment of the Jews, especially of those remaining 
in Judaea, are represented under different parables and 
visions, to the twenty-fourth chapter, inclusive ; with 
occasional intimations of the establishment of the 
Christian church 2 . The inspired writer details in the 
exact order of succession, and in a manner which re- 
markably corresponds with the predictions and relations 
of Jeremiah, the siege of Jerusalem ; the famine by 
which it should be accompanied 3 ; the destruction of 
the city 4 ; the miseries which awaited those that should 
remain in Judaea, and the avenging sword which should 
pursue the remnant that should flee into Egypt 5 . The 
dethroning of the royal race of Judah, expressed by the 
removal of the diadem, and the translation of the 
sovereignty from the family of Coniah, the profane 

1 Chap. iv. and v. 2 Chap. xvii. 22 — 24. 

3 Chap. iv. Jerem. xxix. 15—19. xxxvii. 21. xxxviii. 9* 
Lament, v. 10. 

4 Chap. xxiv. 6 — 14. xx. 45 — 49. xxi. 2 — 27. Jerem. vi. 1 — 6. 
xxi. 10. 14. xxxii. 28, 29. xxxix. 1—9. xliv. 6. lii. 4—7. 13, 14. 

5 Chap. v. 2. 12. Jer. xlii. 16, 17, 18. xliii. 5. 7, 8. 27. for the 
completion of these prophecies, consult Joseph. Antiq. lib. x. c. ix. 
§ 7- p. 454. et ch. xi. § 1. p. 459. et contra Apion. lib. i. § 19. p= 
1342. edit. Hudson. 



OF THE BOOK OF EZEKIEL. 391 

prince of Israel, to one who should be exalted from a 
low degree, (a subversion of power to continue till He 
should come in whom the legal right of inheritance 
was vested, that is, the Messiah,) are most distinctly 
and emphatically foretold 6 . From thence to the thirty- 
second chapter, the Prophet turns his attention to those 
nations who had unfeelingly triumphed over the Jews 
in their affliction : predicting that destruction of the 
Ammonites, Moabites, and Philistines, which Nebu- 
chadnezzar effected ; and particularly, he foretels the 
ruin and desolation of Tyre 7 , and of Sidon ; the calami- 
ties and fall of Egypt 8 , and the base degeneracy of its 
future people, in a manner so forcible, in terms so 
accurately and minutely descriptive of their several 
fates and present condition, that it is highly interesting 
to trace the accomplishment of these prophecies in the 
accounts which are furnished by historians and travel- 
lers. 

From the thirty-second to the fortieth chapter, 
Ezekiel inveighs against the hypocrisy and murmuring 
spirit of his captive countrymen. Having heard in 

6 Chap. xxi. 25—27. see Luke i. 32. John i. 49. 

7 Ezek. xxvi. xxvii. and xxviii. Joseph. Antiq. lib. x. cap. xi. 
cont. Apion. lib. i. Newton's Xlth Dissert, on Prophecy. Prid. 
Con. An. 573. Shaw's Travels, p. 330. Maundrell, p. 48, 49. 
Volney, vol. ii. ch. xxix. Bruce's Travels, Introd. p. 59. 

8 Chap. xxix. and xxxii. Newton's Dissert. XII. and every 
history, and every account of Egypt. Herodotus particularly relates 
the accomplishment of those prophecies which Jeremiah and Ezekiel 
uttered concerning Pharaoh Hophra, king of Egypt. Vid. Jerem. 
xliv. 30. and Herod, lib. ii. ch. 161—169. p. 183. edit. Wessel. 
Hophra is called Apries by Herodotus, who, says the historian, was 
destined to misfortune. See also the testimonies of Megasthenes and 
Berosus in Newton. And Diodorus Siculus, Biblioth. Hist. lib. ic 
c. 68. p. 79, 



392 OF THE BOOK OF EZEKIEL. 

Assyria the fall of Jerusalem, he foreshows farther 
inflictions of Divine wrath 9 , but encourages the people 
to resignation by promises of deliverance \ by assur- 
ances that they should be corrected (as they effectually 
were) from their propensities to idolatry 2 , and by in- 
timations of spiritual redemption 3 , and a renewal of the 
whole nation as by a resurrection from the grave 4 . In 
the two last chapters of this division, under the pro- 
mised victories to be obtained over Gog and Magog 5 , 
he appears to predict some fearful conflicts which are 
to precede the final return of the Jews from their 
dispersion, to be segregated under one sovereign and 

9 Chap. xxx. 21—29. 

1 Chap, xxxvi. 11. xxxvii. 12. 14 21. 

2 Chap. xvi. 41. 

3 Chap, xxxiv. 4. xxiii. et seq. xxxvii. 24. et seq. 

4 Chap, xxxvii. 

9 Rev. xx. 7, 8. Some conceive that these prophecies of Ezekiel 
related to the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes. Calmet applies 
them to Cambyses. Gog, is, however, generally supposed to repre- 
sent the Turks ; who derive their origin from the Tartars, a race of 
the Scythians, who were the descendants of Magog, the son of 
Japhet. Vid. Gen. x. 2. It has been supposed that the word Gog 
was applied to the people, and Magog to the land. We learn from 
Pliny, that Scythopolis and Hieropolis were called Magog, after they 
were taken by the Scythians. The other Prophets speak of some 
future enemy of the Jews and church under a similar description ; 
but in what manner this magnificent prophecy is to receive its com- 
pletion time only can explain. Vid. Lowth in loc. Jerem. xxvii. 
and xxx. Joel iii. Micah v. Rev. xx. Mede conceives that the 
Gog and Magog mentioned in the Revelation of St. John, presignify 
some enemies different from those foretold under these names by 
Ezekiel ; and that St. John's prophecies apply to some unconverted 
heathens to appear in opposition to the church towards the conclu- 
sion of the Millennium. Vid. de Gog et Magog Conject. Mede's 
Works, vol. ii. book iii. Rennell's Geographical System, p. 3. 



OF THE BOOK OF EZEKIEL. 393 

one shepherd 6 in the latter days ; with an obscurity, 
however, that can be dispersed only by the event. 

The eight last chapters of this book detail the de- 
scription of a very remarkable vision of a new temple 
and city ; of a new religion and polity, under the par- 
ticulars of which is shadowed out the establishment of 
a future universal church 7 . 

Josephus says, that Ezekiel left two books concern- 
ing the captivity 8 ; and the author of the Synopsis 
attributed to Athanasius, supposes that one book has 
been lost ; but as the nine last chapters of Ezekiel 
constitute in some measure a distinct work, probably 
Josephus might consider them as forming a second 
book. 

6 Chap, xxxiv. 28—31. xxxvii. 18—28. xxxix. 23—29. 

7 This obscure vision of Ezekiel is generally supposed to contain 
the description of a temple, corresponding in its structure and di- 
mensions with that of Solomon, but occasionally exceeding it. In 
some circumstances it seems to have coincided with particulars of 
description in the ark, so that an analogy may be thought to have 
been preserved through successive ages, and an importance attached 
to this correspondence among the Jews, of which we cannot form an 
adequate conception. The Prophet, by presenting to the captives 
this delineation of what had been " the desire of their eyes," re- 
minded them of the loss which they had suffered from their un- 
righteousness ; and afforded a model, upon which the temple might 
again rise from its ruins ; as it did, with less magnificence, especially 
as to subordinate parts, in the time of Zerubbabel. The proportions 
specified appear to be in exact accordance with the rules of archi- 
tecture, some of which might possibly have been first laid down in 
this plan. Under the particulars detailed by Ezekiel, we often dis- 
cover the ceconomy of a spiritual temple, which should again be filled 
" with the glory of the Lord" coming from the East. Vid. ch. xliii. 
1 — 4. Rev. iv. 2, 3. xi. 19. xiv. 17, &c Capellus, and Com- 
mentators at large. See the temple of Ezekiel, by Solomon Bennett, 
London, 1824. 

8 Joseph. Antiq. lib. x. c. v. p. 441. edit. Hudson. 



394 OF -THE BOOK OF EZEKIEL. 

It deserves particularly to be remarked, that we are 
informed by Joseplms, that the prophecy in which 
Ezekiel 9 foretold that " Zedekiah should not see 
Babylon, though he should die there," was judged by 
that monarch to be inconsistent with that of Jeremiah, 
who predicted that " Zedekiah should behold the king 
of Babylon, and go to Babylon V But both were ex- 
actly fulfilled ; for Zedekiah did see the king of Baby- 
lon at Riblah, and then being deprived of his eyes, he 
was carried to Babylon, and died there 2 . From this 
account it appears that Ezekiel's prophecies were 
transmitted to Jerusalem, as we know that Jeremiah's 
were sent to his countrymen in captivity 3 ; an inter- 
course being kept up, especially for the conveyance of 
prophetic instruction ; for imparting what might con- 
sole misery, or awaken repentance ; and it was, pro- 
bably, on the ground of this communication, that the 
Talmudists supposed that the prophecies of Ezekiel 
were arranged into their present form, and placed in 
the canon by the elders of the great synagogue 4 . 

The style of this Prophet is characterized by Bishop 
Lowth as bold, vehement, and tragical 5 ; as often worked 

9 Ezek. xii. 13. 1 Jer. xxxiv. 3. 

2 Joseph. Antiq. lib. x. c. vii. p. 444. c. viii. p. 449. 

3 Jerem. xxix. 1. and Hieron. in Ezech. xii. 7. torn. iii. lib. iii. 
p. 766. 

4 Bava Bathra, c. i. and in Gemar. Isidor. Orig. lib. vi. 
cap. ii. 

5 The Ezekiel who is quoted by Clemens Alexandrinus and 
Eusebius as the tragic poet of the Jews, was a different person from 
the Prophet. Some suppose that he was one of the seventy trans- 
lators under Ptolemy. His work, in which he describes the Exo- 
dus of the Jews, under the conduct of Moses, is still extant. Vid. 
Clem. Alex. Strom, lib. i. p. 414. edit. Potter. Euseb. Prsep. 
Evang. lib. ix. c. xxviii. Fabric. Bib. Grsec. lib. ii. c. xix. Johan. 



OF THE BOOK OF EZEKIEL. 395 

up to a kind of tremendous dignity. His book is highly- 
parabolical, and abounds with figures and metaphorical 
expressions. Ezekiel may be compared to the Grecian 
iEschylus ; he displays a rough but majestic dignity ; 
an unpolished though noble simplicity. He is inferior, 
perhaps, in originality and elegance, to others of the 
Prophets; but unequalled in that force and grandeur 
for which he is particularly celebrated. He sometimes 
emphatically and indignantly repeats his sentiments ; 
fully dilates his pictures ; and describes the adulterous 
manner of his countrymen under the strongest and 
most emphatical representations that the license of the 
eastern style would admit. The middle part of the 
book is, to a certain extent, poetical; and contains 
even some perfect elegies 6 ; though his thoughts are, 
in general, too irregular and uncontrolled to be chained 
down to rule, or fettered by language. 

Some persons have conceived that Pythagoras im- 
bibed his knowledge concerning the Mosaic law from 
Ezekiel ; and that the Prophet was the same person 
with Nazaratus 7 , under whom Pythagoras is related to 
have studied 8 . Pythagoras certainly did visit Babylon, 
and, according to many calculations, was contemporary 
with the Prophet., 

Eusebius. De Orig. Sac. Script, lib. x. c. 26. p. 377. edit. Lug- 
dun. 1641. 

6 Chap, xxvii. xxviii. 12 — 19. 

7 Called Zabratus, by Porphyry in Vita Pythagor. and Zaratus, by 
Plutarch. Vid. Huet. Prop. iv. p. 220. edit. 1679. 

8 Clem. Alex. Strom, lib. i. p. 358. Some conceive that Pytha- 
goras might have been born about nine years after Ezekiel's depar- 
ture for the captivity ; and that he might have visited Babylon very 
young, and have conversed with Ezekiel when the Prophet was in 
years. 



OF THE 

BOOK OF THE PROPHET 
DANIEL. 



That Daniel collected these prophecies into their pre- 
sent form is evident, since, in various parts of the book, 
he speaks of himself in the character of their author * ; 
and has been so considered in all ages of the church. 
Some Jewish writers, indeed, upon a mistaken notion 
that prophecies were never committed to writing out 
of the limits of Judaea, pretend that the book was 
composed by the men of the great synagogue, as like- 
wise those of Esther and Ezekiel 2 . It was, however, 
unquestionably admitted into the Hebrew canon as the 
authentic production of Daniel ; and it is cited as his 
work in the New Testament 3 . 

In the time of Josephus, Daniel was esteemed as 
one of the greatest of the Prophets 4 ; but since the 

1 Dan. viii. 1, 2. 27. ix. 2. x. 2. xii. 5, &c. 

2 Bava Bathra, cap. in Gemara, and Rabbins. Josephus assures 
us, that Daniel himself committed his prophecies to writing. Vid. 
Joseph. Antiq. lib. x. cap. x. xi. p. 465. 

3 Matt. xxiv. 15. Mark xiii. 14. 

4 Joseph. Antiq. lib. x. cap. xi. p. 464-5. 

3 



OF THE BOOK OF DANIEL. 397 

period in which the historian flourished, the Jews, in 
order to invalidate the evidence that results from the 
Prophet's writings in support of Christianity, have, on 
the authority of a few doctors, agreed to class him 
among the Hagiographi 5 ; which decision, however, 
does not, upon their own rules, affect his pretensions 
to be considered as an inspired writer. The reason 
which, among others, the Jews produce to authorize 
this degradation is, that Daniel lived in the Babylonish 
court in a style of magnificence inconsistent with the 
restrictions observed by the Prophets 6 ; and though the 
Divine will was revealed to him by an angel, yet, as 
the Prophet himself called this revelation a dream, the 
Jewish writers, by some unwarranted distinction, con- 
sider this as a mode of revelation inferior to any of 
those specified in God's address to Moses 7 . Without 
staying to refute these absurd fancies, it is only neces- 
sary to observe, that the exact accomplishment of 
Daniel's many remarkable predictions would have suf- 
ficiently established his right to the character of a 
Prophet, even if he had not been expressly distin- 

5 Maimon. More Nevoch, par. ii. cap. xlv. Theod. cap. ult. Dan. 
torn, ii, p. 697. Yet Daniel is reckoned among the Prophets in some 
Talmudical books. Vide Megilla, c. ii. Jacchiades in Dan. i. 17. 
In the second century, Aquila and Theodotion placed him among 
the Prophets in their Greek translations, agreeably to his rank in the 
Septuagint ; and Melito found him reckoned in the same class. Vid. 
Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. c. xxvi. Hieron. Praef. in Dan. Epi- 
phan. Hseres. lib. i. torn. i. p. 19. edit. Paris, 1622. De Pond, et 
Mens. n. 4. 162. Chand. Vindic. ch. i. § 3. 

6 Grot. Praef. ad Com. in Esai. Huet. Demon. Evang. Prop. iv. 
cap. xiv. p. 223. edit. Par. Kimchi Prsef. in Psalm. 

7 Numb. xii. 6. Maimon. More Nevoch, par. ii. c. xlv. 



398 OF THE BOOK OF DANIEL. 

guished as such by the sacred writers 8 ; and by Christ 
himself, who spoke agreeably to the opinion of the 
Jews, his contemporaries, in testimony to the prophetic 
character of Daniel 9 . 

Daniel was a descendant of the kings of Judah. He 
is related to have been born at upper Bethoron \ which 
was in the territory of Ephraim. He was carried away 
captive to Babylon in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, 
a.m. 3398 ; probably in the eighteenth or twentieth 
year of his age 2 ; and on account of his birth, wisdom, 
and accomplishments 3 , he was selected to stand in the 
presence of Nebuchadnezzar ; so that in him and his 
companions was fulfilled that prophecy in which Isaiah 
declared to Hezekiah that " his issue should be eunuchs 
in the palace of the king of Babylon V 

By the signal proofs which Daniel gave of an excel- 
lent spirit, and by the many extraordinary qualities 
which he possessed, he conciliated the favour of the 
Persian monarchs ; was elevated to high rank 5 , and 

8 Heb. xi. 33, 34. 2 Pet. i. 21. 

9 Matt. xxiv. 15. Mark xiii. 14. 

1 Josh. xvi. 5. Sixtus Senensis affirms, after Epiphanius, that 
Daniel was born at Betheber, near Jerusalem. Vid. Bib, Sanct. 
lib. i. p. 13. Michaelis considers this as an improbable tradition. 
Vid. Michael. Prsef. p. 8. 

2 Aben Ezra. 

3 Dan. i. 3,4. Ezek. xiv. 14. xxv. 3. xxviii. 3. 

4 2 Kings xx. 18. Isa. xxxix. 6, 7. The word eunuch formerly 
was a general title for the royal attendants. The same word in the 
original is applied to Potiphar. Vid. Gen. xxxix. 1. Vid. also 
Acts viii. 27. 

5 Daniel was styled by the angel, " the man of my desire, or es- 
teem ;" an epithet which Mahomed afterwards presumptuously as- 
sumed. The word Daniel implies God's judgments. (Vide Mi- 



OF THE BOOK OF DANIEL. 399 

entrusted with great power. In the vicissitudes of his 
life, as in the virtues which he displayed, he has been 
thought to have resembled Joseph : like him he lived 
amidst the corruption of a great court ; and preserved 
an unshaken attachment to his religion, in a situation 
embarrassed with difficulties, and surrounded by temp- 
tations. He publicly professed God's service, in defi- 
ance of every danger ; and predicted his fearful judg- 
ments in the very face of intemperate and powerful 
tyrants 6 . It may be collected from the pensive cast of 
his writings, that he was of that melancholy disposition 
which might be expected to characterize the servants 
of the true God amidst scenes of idolatry. He expe- 
rienced, through his whole life, very signal and mira- 
culous proofs of Divine favour ; and was looked up to 
by the Persians, as well as by his own countrymen, as 
an oracle of inspired wisdom 7 ; he contributed much 
to spread a knowledge of God among the Gentile 
nations. Many writers have supposed that Zoroaster, 
the celebrated founder or reformer of the Magian reli- 
gion, was a disciple of Daniel, since Zoroaster was evi- 

chael. Prsef. in Dan. and Gierus in Dan.) The name given to him 
in the Babylonish court was Belteshazzar, a name which, as Nebu- 
chadnezzar remarked in his decree, was derived from the name of his 
god (Bel). Vid. Dan. iv. 8. It was usual among the Babylonians 
so to denominate persons after the name of their deities, as Nebu- 
chadnezzar from Nebo, and Evil-Merodach, from Merodach. Vid. 
Isa. xlvi. 1. Jerem. 1. 2. It was also customary, among the eastern 
nations, for the kings to distinguish their favourites by new names 
when they conferred on them new dignities; and the Mogul and Per- 
sian monarchs still adhere to the custom. Gen. xli. 45. Esther ii. 7. 
Scaliger de Emend. Temp. lib. v. and vi. Cellar, ad Curtium, lib. 
vi. cap. 6. 

6 Chap. iv. 20—28. v. 18—29. 

7 Dan. v. 11. Ezek. xiv. 14. xxviii. 3. Daniel was very young 
when Ezekiel bore this testimony to his praise. 



400 OF THE BOOK OF DANIEL. 

dently well acquainted with many revealed truths, and 
borrowed from the sacred writings particulars for the 
improvement of his religious institutes 8 . 

Daniel appears to have attained a great age, as he 
prophesied during the whole period of the captivity. 
He probably, however, did not long survive his last 
vision concerning the succession of the Kings of Persia, 
which he beheld in the third year of Cyrus 9 a.m. 3470, 
when the Prophet must have reached his ninetieth 
year. As Daniel dates this vision by a Persian sera, it 
was apparently revealed to him in Persia ; and though 
some have asserted that he returned from the captivity 
with Ezra, and took upon him the government of Syria 1 , 
it is probable that he was too old to avail himself of 
the decree of Cyrus 2 , however he might have been 
accessary in obtaining it ; and that agreeably to the 
received opinion, he died in Persia. Epiphanius and 
others affirm that he died at Babylon, and they say 
that his sepulchre was to be seen there many ages after 
in the royal cave 3 . But it is more probable, according 

8 Selden De Baal et Belo Syntag. 2. vol. ii. p. 329, &c. J. Drusii 
Tetragram. Crit. Sac. torn. viii. p. 2148. 

9 Chap. x. 1. xii. 13. Michael, in Jerem. Disc. Prelim. § 21. 

1 D'Herbelot. Biblioth. Oriental, p. 283. 

2 The Daniel mentioned by Nehemiah, ch. x. 6. was a different 
person from the Prophet, being probably the same with Daniel, the 
son of Ithamar, spoken of by Ezra, ch. viii. 2. The Belesis, like- 
wise, mentioned by Diodorus, differed from the Prophet in his period 
and character. 

3 Epiphanius. Sixt. Senens. Bib. Sanct. lib. i. p. 14. It appears, 
however, from other writers, that the sepulchre of the Persian kings 
was near Persepolis. Vid. Diodor. Sic. lib. xvii. p. 215. Reland. 
in Palaest. lib. iii. p. 635. Strabo relates, that Cyrus was buried at 
Persepolis, and that his monument was there seen by Alexander. 
Vid. Strab. lib. xv. p. 1035. His successors were, perhaps, buried 
at Susa. 



OF THE BOOK OF DANIEL. 401 

to the common tradition, that he was buried at Susa, 
or Sushan, where certainly he sometimes resided 4 , per- 
haps as governor of Persia ; and where he was favoured 
with some of his last visions. Benjamin Tudela, in- 
deed, informs us 5 , that he was shown the reputed tomb 
of Daniel, at Tuster (the ancient Susa) on the Tigris ; 
where likewise, as we are assured by Josephus, was a 
magnificent edifice in the form of a tower, which was 
said to have been built by Daniel 6 , and which served 
as a sepulchre for the Persian and Parthian Kings. 
This, in the time of the historian, retained its perfect 
beauty, and presented a fine specimen of the Prophet's 
skill in architecture. 

The Book of Daniel contains a very interesting mix- 
ture of history and prophecies ; the former being intro- 
duced as far as was necessary to describe the conduct 
of the Prophet, and to show the design and occasion of 
his predictions. The first six chapters are chiefly his- 
torical ; though, indeed, the second chapter contains 
the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream which 
was revealed to the Prophet ; and in which, after 
having contemplated the fall of preceding empires, 
which illustrated the power of God who removeth and 

4 Chap. viii. 2. 8. Shushan was the capital of Elam, or Persia, 
properly so called. It was taken from Astyages, King of Media, by 
Nebuchadnezzar, according to the prophecy of Jeremiah. Vid. Jerem. 
xlix. 34 — 39. It afterwards revolted to Cyrus. Vid. Xenophon, 
Cyropsed. lib. v. 

5 Benjam. Tudel. Itiner. p. 78. et Abulfar. Hist. Oriental. Dynast. 5. 
G Joseph. Antiq. lib. x. c. xi. p. 464. The present copies of 

Josephus, indeed, place this edifice in Ecbatana, but probably the 
historian originally wrote Susa ; for St. Jerom, who professes to 
copy his account, reads Susa, which was in the Babylonish empire. 
Vid. Hieron. Com. in Dan. viii. 2. torn. iii. p. 1104. 

Dd 



402 OF THE BOOK OF DANIEL. 

setteth up kings as seemeth good to him, he was en- 
abled to foretel future revolutions, which should con- 
tinue to prepare the way, by an invisible hand, for the 
establishment of that dominion which was finally to 
break in pieces all those nations, among which the 
Roman power should be distributed. 

The four historical chapters which succeed, relate 
the miraculous deliverance of Daniel's companions from 
the furnace 7 ; the remarkable and predicted punish- 
ment of Nebuchadnezzar's arrogance, operating to con- 
trition 8 ; the impiety and portended fate of Belshazzar 9 ; 

7 Chap. iii. In this miracle was shown a particular proof of the 
accomplishment of a prophetic assurance of Isaiah, and some mys- 
terious representation was at the same time manifested of the Son of 
God, who had called upon his servants to confide in him as their 
Redeemer. See Isaiah, chap, xliii. 1, 2. 

8 It has been usually supposed that the punishment inflicted on 
Nebuchadnezzar was that species of madness which is called Lycan- 
thropy. This disorder operates so strongly on those affected by it, as 
to make them fancy themselves wolves, and run howling and tearing 
every thing in extravagant imitation of those animals. Vid. Sen- 
nertj 'Institut. Medic, lib. ii. pars 3. sect. 2. cap. iv. torn. i. p. 421. 
Calmet. Dissertat. sur la Metamorph. de Nebuchodon. torn. vi. 
p. 622. Pausan. in Arcad. lib. viii. p. 600, 601. Ovid. Metam. 
Jib. i. 1. 232, et seq. But it should seem from the account, that the 
Divine threats were fulfilled in a more exact and literal sense ; and 
that Nebuchadnezzar was actually driven from society, till his affec- 
tions were brutalized and his appearance changed. Scaliger con- 
ceives, that this metamorphosis is alluded to by Abydenus, who 
remarks, on the authority of the Chaldaean writers, that Nebuchad- 
nezzar, after having uttered a prophecy relative to the destruction of 
the Babylonish empire by Cyrus, disappeared {jrapa^fijxa ^(pavtaro). 
Vid. Euseb. Prsep. Evan. lib. ix. c. xli. p. 457. edit. Par. 1628. 
Scaliger's notes upon the ancient fragments in the appendix to his 
work, de Emendatione Temporum. 

9 The death of Belshazzar is related by Xenophon nearly in the 



OF THE BOOK OF DANIEL. 403 

and the Divine interposition for the protection of 
Daniel in the lions' den *. The events which are re- 
lated were such as must have excited strong impres- 
sions among the heathen, of the attributes of God, and 
have produced acknowledgments of the irresistible 
power of Him, before whom all the inhabitants of the 
earth are reputed as nothing 2 . They demonstrated the 
still continued protection which He afforded to his 
people in captivity, showing that his care was particu- 
larly extended to those who preserved an adherence to 
his worship, and zeal for his service ; that He was ever 
ready to hear their supplications, to deliver them from 
the greatest difficulties and dangers, and to encourage 
a constant reliance on Himself. These relations are fol- 
lowed by a remarkable record of a vision, in which 
communication was imparted to the Prophet concern- 
ing the protection afforded to the Hebrew church 

same manner as it is described by Daniel. Vid. Histor. lib. vii. and 
many other particulars recorded in this book are represented in a 
similar way by heathen historians, as St. Jerom has shown by many 
references. The eastern kings had, however, many titles, assumed 
on various occasions ; they are, therefore, sometimes spoken of in 
this book, as in other parts of Scripture, under titles different from 
those by which they are distinguished in profane history ; and pro- 
bably the sacred writers chose to characterize wicked princes by 
those obnoxious appellations which they assumed in honour of their 
idols ; as in the instance of Evil-Merodach and Belshazzar. Bel- 
shazzar was probably the son of Evil-Merodach, by Nitocris, and 
the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, whose son (or descendant) he is 
called in Scripture. Vid. Bishop Hallifax's second Sermon on Pro- 
phecies concerning the Christian Religion. 

1 Daniel's deliverance from the den of lions, as well as that of his 
friends from the flames, was long celebrated among the Jews. Vid. 
1 Mace. ii. 59, 60. and 3 Mace. vi. 3—5. 

2 Chap. ii. 47. ill. 26—29. iv. 34—37. vi. 26, 27. 

Dd2 



404 OF THE BOOK OF DANIEL. 

during the captivity, under the ministry of Providence, 
resisting the spiritual enemies combined against its 
welfare 3 . All these accounts are written with a spirit 
and animation highly interesting, and even with dra- 
matic effect; we seem to be present at the scenes 
described. The whole work is enriched with the most 
exalted sentiments of piety ; and with the finest at- 
testations to the praise and glory of God. 

The peculiar sanctity of Daniel's character, his firm 
faith and confidence in God, manifested at a time of 
great despondency, seem to have obtained from the 
Almighty many signal deliverances, calculated to revive 
the dejection of his captive countrymen, and many ex- 
traordinary revelations with respect to the advent of 
Christ, and the circumstances of his kingdom. To 
him it was given to record distinct representations of 
the Messiah in his Divine and human character 4 : to 
him it was allowed not only to foreshow the first advent 
of the Mediator who was " to finish the transgression, 
to make reconciliation for iniquity," and " to be cut off, 
but not for himself 5 ," but also to unfold the scene, 
when he should appear coming in clouds to the Father, 
to receive " dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that 
all people, nations, and languages, should serve him 6 ." 

Daniel flourished during the successive reigns of 
several Babylonish and Median kings, to the conquest 
of Babylon by Cyrus ; in the beginning of whose reign 
he probably died. The events recorded in the sixth 
chapter were coeval with Darius the Mede ; but in the 

3 Chap. x. 13. 21. xi. 1. xii. 1. 

4 Chap. iii. 25. vii. 13. 5 Chap. ix. 24. 26. 

6 Chap. vii. 13, 14. Matt, xxviii. 18. Acts i. 9. ii. 34. vii. 56. 
Ephes. i. 20—22. Phil. ii. 9—11. Heb. i. 3. Rev. xix. 16. 

3 



OF THE BOOK OF DANIEL. 405 

seventh and eighth chapters Daniel returns to an earlier 
period, to relate the visions which he beheld in the 
three first years of Belshazzar's reign 7 ; and those which 
follow in the four last chapters were revealed to him in 
the reign of Darius. 

The last six chapters of this book are composed of 
prophecies delivered at different times, all of which, 
however, are, in some degree, connected as parts of one 
grand scheme, in which the interests of the Hebrew 
and Christian Churches are concerned. They extend 
through many ages ; and exhibit under the most strik- 
ing representations the fall of successive kingdoms; 
they characterize in descriptive terms the four great 
monarchies of the world, to be succeeded by that 
kingdom which is an everlasting dominion, and which 
shall not be destroyed 8 ; they point out even interme- 
diate subdivisions of empire, particularly that of the 
four kingdoms into which the empire of Alexander 
should be broken, and which should "stand up, but 
not in his power 9 ;" they predict the persecution of the 
Jews, under Antiochus Epiphanes l ; the desolation of 
Jerusalem, and of the sanctuary 2 . They foreshow the 
power and destruction of Antichrist, in predictions re- 
peated and extended by St. John 3 ; and conclude with 
a distinct assurance of a general resurrection to a life 

7 Michael. Prsef. in ch. vii. Hieron. Com. in c. vii. torn. hi. 
p. 1098. 

8 Chap. vii. 13, 14. 27. 9 Chap. viii. 8. 22. 

1 Chap. viii. 9. 12. xi. 15. 

2 Chap. ix. 26. Joseph. Antiq. lib. x. ch. xi. p. 455, 456. 

3 Dan. passim, and Bishop Andrews's Respons, ad Bellarm. Apol. 
p. 334. et Revel. The prophecies concerning the Antichrist are 
usually applied to the Papal power prefigured by Antiochus Epi- 
phanes. Vid. chap. viii. 23—25. xi. 36—45. 



406 OF THE BOOK OF DANIEL. 

life of everlasting glory, or of everlasting shame and 
contempt 4 , when a lustre of peculiar glory shall be 
conferred on those by whose wisdom many shall be 
converted to righteousness 5 . 

The prophecies of Daniel were in many instances so 
exactly accomplished, that those persons who would 
have otherwise been unable to resist the evidence 
which they disclosed in support of our religion, have 
not scrupled to affirm, that they must have been writ- 
ten subsequently to those occurrences which they so 
faithfully describe 6 . But this groundless and unsup- 
ported assertion of Porphyry, who in the third century 
wrote against Christianity, serves but to establish the 
character of Daniel as a great and illustrious Prophet ; 
and Porphyry, by confessing and proving from the best 
historians, that all which is included in the eleventh 
chapter of Daniel relative to the Kings of the north, 
and of the south, of Syria, and of Egypt, was truly and 
in every particular, acted and done in the order there 
related, has undesignedly contributed to the reputation 
of those prophecies of which he attempted to destroy 
the authority ; for it is contrary to all historical testi- 
mony, and contrary to all probability, to suppose that 
the Jews would have admitted into the canon of their 

4 Dan. xii. 2. 13. 5 Chap. xii. 4. 

6 Hieron. Prsefat. in Daniel, torn. iii. p. 1073. The first chapter 
has by some been thought to have been written after the time of 
Daniel, because it speaks of the Prophet in the third person, and 
says that he continued in the first year of Cyrus, (that is, perhaps, 
to the third year of his reign over the Medes, and to the first over 
Babylon ;) but these words might well proceed from Daniel, as he 
lived beyond that period. The concluding verse of the sixth chapter 
might equally have proceeded from Daniel, speaking of himself in 
the third person. 



OF THE BOOK OF DANIEL. 407 

sacred writ, a book which contained pretended prophe- 
cies of what had already happened 7 . Indeed, it seems 
impossible that these prophecies should have been 
written after the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes, since 
there can be little doubt that they were translated into 
Greek near a hundred years before the period in which 
he lived ; and that translation was in the possession of 
the Egyptians, who entertained no kindness for the 
Jews, or their religion 8 . Those prophecies also, which 
foretold the victories and dominion of Alexander 9 , 
were shown to that conqueror himself by Jaddua, the 
high-priest, as we learn from Josephus 1 , and the Jews 

7 The Dames of the musical instruments mentioned in this book, 
have some resemblance to those of Grecian instruments ; but as 
colonies of Ionians, Dorians, and iEolians, were settled in Asia, 
long before the time of Daniel, technical names might easily be com- 
municated from them to the Babylonians ; or rather, as the East 
was the source of music, and the words appear to be of eastern 
etymology, they might be originally derived from the East to the 
Greeks. Yid. Marsham. Can. Chron. Saec. 13. and Chandler's 
Vindic. of Def. chap. i. sect. 2. 

8 St. Jerom informs us, that the Septuagint version of Daniel was 
rejected by the church, for that of Theodotion. Vid. Hieron. on 
Dan. iv. 8. torn. iii. p. 1088. The Septuagint was admitted into 
Origen's Hexapla, and from his time fell into discredit. Before it 
was in general use, the Latin version seems to have been made from 
it, and it was cited by the earliest writers. The version of Daniel 
was, therefore, probably made with the rest of the prophetical books, 
which there is good authority to believe were all translated before 
the time of Euergetes II. Vid. Prol. in Ecclus. Euseb. Dem. Evan, 
lib. viii. p. 331. Clemens Roman, epist. i. c. 34. Justin Martyr. 
Dialog, cum Trypho, edit. Oxon. p. 87. 241. Chand. Vind. ch. i. 
sect. 3. 

9 Chap. viii. 5. xi. 3. Lloyd's Letter to Sherlock. Chandler's 
Vindic. ch. ii. sect. 1. Bayle's Diet. art. Macedo. note . 

1 Joseph. Antiq. lib. x. cap. xi. p. 504. lib. xi. cap. viii. Newton's 
Diss. vol. ii. Diss. xv. p. 36. 



408 OF THE BOOK OF DANIEL. 

thereupon obtained an exemption from tribute every 
sabbatical year, and the free exercise of their laws. 
Many other prophecies in the book have likewise been 
fulfilled since the time of Porphyry 2 . 

Daniel not only predicted future events with singular 
precision, but likewise accurately defined the time in 
which they should be fulfilled, as was remarkably exem- 
plified in that illustrious prophecy of the seventy weeks 3 , 
in which he prefixed the period for " bringing in ever- 
lasting righteousness by the Messiah," " for sealing up 
the vision and prophecy," and for "anointing the most 
holy," as well as in some other mysterious predictions, 
which probably mark out the time or duration of the 
power of Antichrist 4 , and, as some suppose, of the 
commencement of the millennium, or universal reign of 
saints, which they conceive to be foretold ; for the ex- 
planation of which we must wait the event. 

From the fourth verse of the second chapter, to the 
end of the seventh chapter of this book, Daniel wrote 
his history originally, in the Chaldaic, or Syriac lan- 

2 Porphyry was born at Tyre, a. d. 233. Some of his objections 
relate to the spurious parts of Daniel. St. Jerom agrees with him 
in applying the eleventh chapter as far as the twenty-first verse to 
the time of Antiochus Epiphanes. The Prophet afterwards speaks 
of the Romans and of the Antichrist, as he does of the latter in the 
eighth and twelfth chapters. Vid. Bishop Chandler's Vindic. of 
Def. and S. Chandler's Vindication of the Antiquity and Authority 
of Daniel's Prophecies. 

3 Chap. ix. 24 — 27. For computations concerning the exact 
accomplishment of this amazing prophecy, vid. Usser. Annal. V. T. 
ad. Ann. Per. Jul. 4260. Prid. Connect. Ann. a. c. 458. Lloyd's 
Chron. Tables, Num. 3, 4. Basnage's Diss, on Seventy Weeks. 
Calmet's Dissert, sur les Sept. Sem.-Petav. de Doct. Temp. lib. xii. 
Raymundi Martinii Pugio Fidei, pars 3. c. 3. p. 269. edit. Lipsise, 
1687, &c. 

4 Ch, vii. 25. viii. 14. xii. 7. Lowth, &c. 



OF THE BOOK OF DANIEL. 409 

gnage 5 ; and, indeed, the greatest part of the book 
bears marks of the Chaldaic idiom ; as might well be 
expected from an author who had so long resided in 
Chaldsea. Since all the historical particulars which 
concerned the Babylonish nation were probably recorded 
in the annals of that government 6 ; Daniel might 
possibly have extracted some passages, as, perhaps, the 
decree of Nebuchadnezzar 7 , from those chronicles ; and 
no testimony could be more honourable, or with more 
propriety be prefixed to his prophecies. As the Jews 
also in their dispersion had separately intermixed with 
the natives of Chaldnea, they all understood the lan- 
guage of the country ; and must have received so 
authentic a document of Daniel's fidelity with particu- 
lar respect. The remaining- chapters s , which were 
written in Hebrew, contain prophetic visions, which 
were revealed only to the Prophet, and related prin- 
cipally to the church and people of God. 

The style of Daniel is clear, concise, simple, and 
historical, though the visions which he describes were 
of themselves of a figurative and emblematical charac- 
ter. These pourtrayed future circumstances to his 
imagination under representations strikingly symbolical 
of those particulars which they foreshowed ; and they 
who advert to the ensigns and armorial devices of the 

5 These were originally the same language. Vid. 2 Kings xviii. 26. 
Ezra iv. 7. The language of Babylon was the pure Chaldee ; the 
modern Syriac is the language which was used by the Christians of 
Comagena and other provinces bordering upon Syria, when that was 
the language of the country. 

6 Esther ii. 23. vi. 1. 7 Chap. iv. 

8 The first chapter, and the three first verses of the second chap- 
ter, were written in Hebrew, as they form a kind of introduction to 
the book. 



410 OF THE BOOK OF DANIEL. 

nations of whom Daniel prophesied, will discover a 
very apposite propriety in the hieroglyphical images 
which the Prophet selects 9 . 

Daniel's name, like that of many others of the sacred 
writers, has been borrowed to countenance spurious 
books, besides the apocryphal additions in our Bibles. 
A work entitled the Visions of Daniel \ was condemned 
as counterfeit and impious by the decree of Gratian 2 . 
In this book Daniel is said to have foretold how many 
years each emperor should live, as well as the events of 
his reign, and the future circumstances of the Saracens. 
Some supposititious magical writings were likewise attri- 
buted to the Prophet 3 . But Daniel, though well versed in 
the Chaldsean philosophy, as Moses was " learned in all 
the wisdom of Egypt," yet disclaimed all magical arts, 
and relied on the true God. 

9 Chap. viii. Thus the Ram was the royal ensign of the Persians, 
and was to be seen on the pillars of Persepolis. Vid. Ammian. 
Marcel, lib. xix. Sir J. Chardin's Travels through Persia. The 
Goat also was the emblem or arms of Macedon. Vid. Justin. Hist, 
lib. viii. Mede's "Works, book iii. p. 654. 712. Joseph. Antiq. 
lib. x. cap. x. et xi. and Newton on Dan. ch. iv. par. 1. 

1 'Opdaeig, Somnialia. 

2 Decret. Part ii. Causs. 27. Qusest. 1. c. xvi. and Athan, Synop. 
lib. ii. 

3 Joan. Alb. Fabricii. Codic. Pseudepigraph. V. Test. p. 1130. 



GENERAL PREFACE 



TO THE 



TWELVE MINOR PROPHETS, 



The writings of the Twelve Minor Prophets were, in 
the Hebrew canon, comprised in one book, which was 
called by St. Stephen the Book of the Prophets K By 
whom they were so compiled is uncertain ; probably, 
however, they were collected together in that form by 
Ezra, or by some member of the Great Synagogue 2 ; 
but certainly above 200 years before the birth of 
Christ ; for the author of the Book of Ecclesiasticus, 
who wrote about a.m. 3770, celebrates the memorial 
of the Twelve Prophets under one general eulogy: 
as of those who had comforted God's people, and 
confirmed their confidence in God's promises of a 
Redeemer 3 . The order in which the books are placed, 
is not the same in the Septuagint as in the Hebrew 4 . 

1 Acts vii. 42. comp. with Amos v. 25. 

2 Abarb. Prsef. in Tsaiah. Bava Bathra, &c. 

3 Ecclus. xlix. 10. and Arnald on the place. Chandler's Defen. 
ch. 1. § 2. p. 44. It is mentioned as the Book of the Twelve Pro- 
phets, by Cyprian, Epist. 59. p. 129. edit. Oxon. 1682. 

4 Hieron. Prsefat. in Duodec. Prophet, torn. i. p. 727. Observat. 
Joseph. De Voisin in Procem. Pugionis Fidei, p. 118. edit. Lipsiae, 
1687. 



412 GENERAL PREFACE 

According to the latter, they stand as in our transla- 
tion ; but in the Greek the series is altered, as to the 
six first, to the following arrangement : Hosea, Amos, 
Micah, Joel, Obadiah, Jonah. This change, however, 
is of no consequence, since neither in the original, nor 
in the Septuagint, are they placed with exact regard to 
the time in which their sacred authors respectively 
flourished. 

The order in which they should stand, if chronologi- 
cally arranged, is, by Blair and others, supposed to be 
as follows : Jonah, Amos, Hosea, Micah, Nahum, Joel, 
Zephaniah, Habakkuk, Obadiah, Haggai, Zechariah, 
Malachi. And this order will be found to be generally 
consistent with the periods to which the Prophets will 
be respectively assigned in the following work ; except 
in the instance of Joel, who probably lived at an earlier 
time than that in which he is placed by these chronolo- 
gers. The precise period of this Prophet, however, 
cannot be ascertained, and some disputes might be 
maintained concerning the priority of others also when 
they were nearly contemporaries, as Amos and Hosea ; 
and when the first prophecies of a later Prophet were 
delivered at the same time with, or previously to some 
of those of a Prophet who was called earlier to the 
holy office 5 . The following scheme, however, in which 
also the greater Prophets will be introduced, may en- 
able the reader more accurately to comprehend the 
actual and relative periods in which they severally 
prophesied. 

5 Vid. Observat. Jos. De Voisin in Prooem. Pugionis Fidei, p. 118. 



TO THE TWELVE MINOR PROPHETS. 



413 



The Prophets, in their supposed Order of time, arranged according 
to Blair's Tables 6 , with but little Variation. 





Bef. Christ. 


Kings of Jadali. 


Kings of Israel. 


Jonah, 


Between 
856 and 784. 




Jehu and Jehoahaz, accord- 
ing to Lloyd ; but Joash 
and Jeroboam the Se- 
cond, according to Blair. 


Amos, 


Between 
810and785. 


Uzziah, ch. i. 1. 


Jeroboani the Second, 
ch. i. 1. 


Hosea, 


Between 
810and725. 


Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, the 
third year of Hezekiah. 


Jeroboam the Second, 
ch. i. 1. 


Isaiah, 


Between 
810and698. 


Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and 
Hezekiah, chap. i. 1. and 
perhaps Manasseth. 




Joel, 


Between 

810 and GOO, 

or later. 


Uzziah, or possibly Manas- 
seth. 




Micah, 


Between 
758 and 099. 


Jotham, Ahaz, and Heze- 
kiah, ch. i. 1. 


Pekah and Hosea. 


Nahum, 


Between 
720andG98. 


Probably towards the close 
of Hezekiah's reign. 




Zephaniah, 


Between 
040 and 009. 


In the reign of Josiah, ch. 
i. 1. 


Jeremiah, 


Between 
G28and580. 


In the thirteenth year oi 
Josiah. 


Habakkuk. 


Between 
Gl 2 and 598. 


Probably in the reign of 

Jehoiakim. 


Daniel, 


Between 
606 and 534. 


During all the Captivity. 


Obadiah, 


Between 
588 and 583. 


Between the taking of Je- 
rusalem by Nebuchadnez- 
zar, and the destruction 
of the Edomites by him. 


Ezekiel, 


Between 
595 and 536. 


During part of the Cap- 
tivity. 


Haggai, 


About 520 
to 518. 


After the return from 
Babylon. 


Zechariah, 


From 520 

to 518, or 

longer. 




Malachi, 


Between 
4 36 and 397. 



6 See Bishop Newcome's version of Minor Prophets, Preface, p. 43. 



414 GENERAL PREFACE 

The Twelve Minor Prophets were so called, not in 
respect to any supposed inferiority in their writings as 
to matter or style, but in reference to the brevity of 
their works. The shortness, indeed, of these prophe- 
cies seems to have been one reason for joining them 
together 7 ; by which means the volume of their con- 
tents was swelled to a greatness in some degree corre- 
spondent to their importance. Neither were they later 
in point of time than the greater Prophets ; some having 
preceded Isaiah ; and many of them having lived before 
Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel 8 ; and by the Greeks, 
indeed, they are placed before them. It is a tradition- 
ary account, that of these Prophets, such as do not 
furnish us with the date of their prophecies must be 
supposed to have flourished as contemporaries with, or 
immediately after the Prophets, which precede them in 
the order of the books ; but this is not invariably true ; 
and is built upon a precarious supposition, that the 
books are chronologically arranged in the Hebrew 
manuscripts. 

Some of the Prophets were probably born in the ter- 
ritory of Israel, but most in that of Judah. They ap- 
pear, however, to have been sometimes commissioned 
to preach reciprocally against those tribes among whom 
they were not born. 

These twelve Prophets furnish us, in scattered parts, 
with a lively sketch of many particulars relative to the 
history of Judah and of Israel ; as likewise of other 

7 Beth Israel relates, that Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, added 
their writings to those of the Minor Prophets, and compiled them 
into one volume, lest they should perish. Vid. Bava Bathra, c. i. 

8 Hieron. Prsefat. in 12 Prophet, torn. i. p. 727-8. Theodor. in 
Prooem. Aug. de Civit, lib. xviii. c. xxvii. 



TO THE TWELVE MINOR PROPHETS. 415 

kingdoms ; they describe in prophetic anticipation, but 
with historical exactness, the fate of Babylon, of Nine- 
veh, of Tyre, of Sidon, and of Damascus. The three 
last prophets especially illustrated many circumstances 
at a period when the historical pages of Scripture were 
closed, and with respect to which profane authors afford 
very defective information. They foreshowed, under 
the most striking representations, the advent, and the 
character of the Messiah and of his kingdom, and en- 
deavoured, by the most admirable instruction, to excite 
those religious sentiments which must have facilitated 
the reception of the Gospel. The Jewish Prophets of 
the most eminent rank at first flourished but as single 
guides, and followed each other in individual succes- 
sion. During the continuance of the theocracy, and 
perhaps some time after, the Jews were in possession 
of the power of consulting God by means of the Urim 
and Thummim. But when the calamities of the cap- 
tivity drew near ; during the continuance of that afflic- 
tion, and amidst the melancholy scenes which the 
people contemplated on their return to desolate cities 
and to a wasted land ; in these dark periods the Pro- 
phets were, by God's mercies, raised up in greater 
numbers for the consolation of his people ; who were 
encouraged to look forward to that joyful deliverance 
by the Messiah which then approached. The light of 
inspiration was concentrated into one blaze previously 
to its suspension ; and it served to keep alive the ex- 
pectations of the Jews during the awful interval which 
prevailed between the expiration of prophecy and its 
grand completion in the advent of Christ. 

A period was left to demonstrate the general in- 
fluence of the Law among the Jews, and the effects of 



416 GENERAL PREFACE, &C. 

Philosophy cultivated under the highest advantages 
among the heathens. It is remarkable also that as the 
predictions which had been uttered, seem but in a few 
instances to have pointed to any events which occurred 
between the closing of the Jewish canon (which was 
concluded by Malachi with prophetic assurances of the 
speedy approach of the Baptist and our Saviour) ; so the 
intermediate period is but imperfectly described by 
Heathen and Jewish Historians. If in the writings of 
the later Minor Prophets, we sometimes are perplexed 
at seeing the light of revelation but faintly glimmering 
through the darkness of the period, and the obscurity 
of their style ; we must recollect that some of them 
lived when the language of the Jews began to be 
vitiated and to decline ; that there are few contempo- 
rary records to illustrate their prophecies : that the 
brevity of their works prevents us from collating the 
author with himself; and that we who read them in 
English, judge of them through the imperfect medium 
of a translation 9 . 

9 " Hebraei bibunt Fontes, Graeci Rivos, Latini Paludes," as 
Picus Mirandula observed. 



OF THE 

BOOK OF THE PROPHET 
HOSEA. 



Hosea lias been supposed to have been the most ancient 
of the Twelve Minor Prophets ; and, indeed, by some 
writers he is represented as having preceded all the 
prophets l , since he flourished about the middle of the 
reign of Jeroboam the Second, the son of Joash King 
of Israel, and towards the commencement of that of 
Uzziah 2 , who began to reign over Jerusalem about 
a.m. 3194. According to some accounts of no great 

1 Hieron. Comment in Osee, c. 1. Basil. Aoyog, 2d. in Esai. p. 
812. edit. 1618. Rufin, &c. In the second verse of the first chap- 
ter it is said, " the beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea," 
which some have understood to imply, that when God began to 
manifest himself, he addressed Hosea ; but it perhaps means only, 
that "the first revelation to (a) Hosea was as follows." 

2 Chap. i. 1. Uzziah, or as he is sometimes called, Azariah, and 
Ozias, ascended the throne of Judah in the twenty-seventh year of 
Jeroboam the Second, that is, according to some chronologists, in 
the twenty-seventh year of his reign, from the aera of his conjunction 
with his father ; and in the sixteenth year of his monarchy, which 
commenced a.m. 3179. As Jeroboam reigned forty-one years, 
Hosea must have entered on his ministry before the twenty-fifth 
year of Uzziah's reign, if he prophesied while Uzziah and Jeroboam 
were contemporaries. Vid. Com. on 2 Kings xv. 1. 

E e 



418 OF THE BOOK OF HOSEA. 

authority 3 , he was of the tribe of Issachar, and of the 
city of Beleenor 4 ; others represent him to have been 
of the tribe of Judah. He was the son of Beeri 5 , and 
entered on the prophetic office some time between the 
years 3194 and 3219. He continued to prophesy above 
sixty years : during the successive reigns of Uzziah, 
Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, Kings of Judah ; and 
probably to about the third year of the reign of the 
last : or if we reckon by the Kings of Israel, against 
which nation he chiefly prophesied, he may be described 
as having flourished during the reign of Jeroboam and 
his successors, to the sixth year of Hosea, which cor- 
responds with the third year of Hezekiah. Hosea was, 
therefore, nearly contemporary with Isaiah, Amos, and 
Jonah. It is probable that he resided chiefly in Sama- 
ria ; and that he was the first prophet, of those at least 
whose prophecies we possess, who predicted the de- 
struction of that country ; which was effected soon after 
the Prophet's death by Salmaneser, King of Assyria 6 , 
about forty years after it was delivered. 

Hosea apparently compiled his own prophecies, and 

3 Pseudo Epiphan. et Doroth. de Prophetis apud Euseb. p. 619. 
edit. Basil. 

4 Or Bethsome, not Beleemoth. Vid. Drus. in Osee, c. i. 1. 

* Not Beerah, who was taken captive by Tiglath-Pileser. Vid. 
1 Chron. v. 6. whose name is, indeed, spelt differently, and who 
was a prince of the Reubenites. The word Beeri implies a well ; 
or, as some say, it is derived from a word which imports teaching : 
whence an argument in support of the Rabbinical fancy, that Hosea 
was the son of a Doctor, or Prophet. Hosea's name signifies the 
Saviour. 

6 2 Kings xviii. 10. Hieron. in Osee, cap. i. et Usser^d a.m. 
3197. See Jonathan Targum in Hoseam, c. 1. et Scholia, p. 3. edit. 
Paris, 1656. 



OF THE BOOK OF HOSEA. 419 

he speaks of himself in the first person in this book 7 . 
Calmet, indeed, on account of some supposed chrono- 
logical difficulties, questions the authenticity of the first 
verse, which he conceives to have been a subsequent 
addition ; but these difficulties may be solved without 
having recourse to such conjectures. The book is cited 
by St. Matthew as unquestionably the inspired produc- 
tion of a Prophet 8 , as likewise by St. Paul 9 , and, in- 
deed, by Christ himself 1 . 

The prophecies of Hosea being scattered through the 
book without date or connexion, cannot now be chro- 
nologically arranged with any certainty. They are, 
however, perhaps placed in the order in which they 
were at first uttered ; and Wells, upon some probable 
conjectures, supposes them to have been delivered in the 
following succession, reckoning by the Kings of Israel. 
In the reign of Jeroboam, The three first chapters. 
In the Interregnum which } 

succeeded the death of f The fourth chapter. 

Jeroboam, ) 

In the reign of Menahem,\ 

or in that of his son 



Pekahiah. According to 
which account none are 
assigned to the short in- 
termediate reigns of Ze 
chariah and Shallum, 



The fifth chapter, to ch. 
vi. 3. inclusively. 



7 Chap. iii. 1, 2, 3. 

s Matt. ii. 15. from Hosea xi. 1. and Chand. Def. chap. xi. sect. i. 
Rom. ix. 25, 26. 1 Cor. xv. 4. where the Apostle is supposed 
to refer to a remarkable passage in Hosea vi. 2. which is evidently 
prophetic of the resurrection of Christ. 
1 Matt. ix. 12, 13. xii. 7. 

E e 2 



420 



OF THE BOOK OF HOSEA, 



In the reign of Pekah. 



In the reign of Hosea. 



From ch. vi. 4. to ch. vii, 
10. inclusively. 

From ch. vii. 11. to the 
end. Comp. ch. vii. 1 1 . 
with 2 Kings xvii. 4. 
Wells subdivides this 
portion into two parts, 
supposing the first which 
terminates with the 
tenth chapter, to have 
been delivered before the 
king of Assyria took 
away the golden calf that 
was at Bethel ; and the 
remainder after that 
event. 

At whatever periods the prophecies were delivered, 
the object and design of them are sufficiently clear. 
The author in one continued strain of invective, de- 
claims against the sins of Israel ; exposes in the 
strongest terms the spiritual whoredoms of those who 
worshipped vain idols erected at Bethel and Bethaven, 
calling on Judah to shun pollutions so offensive to 
Jehovah. He denounces God's vengeance against 
Ephraim, (the representative of the ten tribes,) who 
should vainly call on other nations for protection. He 
points out the folly of the people in their pursuits : 
telling them, that they had " sown the wind, and should 
reap the whirlwind." He threatens them in many pro- 
phecies, from among which we may select, as remark- 
able proofs of that foreknowledge with which the 
Prophet was inspired, those in which he foretold the 






OF THE BOOK OF HOSEA. 421 

captivities, dispersion, and sufferings of Israel l ; the 
deliverance of Judah from Sennacherib, figurative of 
salvation by Christ 2 ; the punishment of Judah, and 
the demolition of its cities 3 ; the congregation of the 
Gentile converts 4 ; the conversion of the Israelites 5 ; 
the present destitute state of the Jews 6 ; the union 
of the children of Judah and Israel under one head 7 ; 
and their future restoration in the general establish- 
ment of the Messiah's kingdom 8 ; the calling of our 
Saviour out of Egypt 9 ; his resurrection on- the third 
day 10 ; and the terrors of the last judgment, alluded 

1 Ch. i. 4, 5. v. 5—7. ix. 3. 6—17. x. 5, 6. 15. xiii. 16. 

2 Ch. i, 7. comp. with 2 Kings xix. 35. and Chand. Def. ch. ii. 
§ 1. p. 70. 

3 Ch. v. 10. viii. 14. 

4 Ch. i. 10, 11. ii. 23. com. with Rom. ix. 24. 26. 

5 Ch. xiv. 4. 8. 

b Ch. iii. 4, 5. Jonathan, the author of the Chaldee Paraphrase, 
who was holden in the highest estimation by the Jews, and who, 
according to tradition, internal proofs, and the very design of his 
version, cannot be supposed to have made it less than twenty-eight 
years before the time of Christ, and who is related to have been a 
hearer of Simeon, and like him to have holden Christ in his arms, 
instead of rendering in the fifth verse of the third chapter, " David 
their King," uses the expression of " the Messiah, the Son of David ;" 
as also in Jeremiah xxx. 9. See Targum seu Paraphrasis Caldaica 
quae etiam Syriaca dicitur Jonathani Caldaei. . . . Dedicatio Principi 
Carolo Lotharingo. p. 1. Prasfat. et Comment, in locos, edit. Paris, 
1556. So that their own book bears witness against the Jews to 
the truth of the claims of our Lord. See Matt. xxi. 9. Vid. Hieron. 
in loc. 

7 Ch. i. 11. 8 Ch. i. 11. iii. 5. 

9 Ch. xi. 1. comp. with Matt. ii. 15. and Hieron. Grot, in loc. 

10 Ch. vi. 2. comp. with 1 Cor. xv. 4. Cyprian, adv. Jud. lib. ii. 
cap. xxv. p. 295. Bernard. Serm. 1. in Die Sanct. Pasch. vol. i. 
p. 901. edit. Paris, 1719. Origen Homil. 5. in Exod. p. 144. 
Tertul. Advers. Jud. c. xiii. p. 199. Grotius, Mercerus, Pococke, &c. 



422 



OF THE BOOK OF HOSEA. 



to under figurative representations of temporal de- 
struction impending over Samaria K Thus, amidst 
the denunciations of wrath, the people were animated 
by some dawnings of favour ; and taught to cultivate 
righteousness and mercy in expectation of the blessings 
of the Lord 2 , and in the assurances of a final ransom 
from the power of the grave, and of a redemption from 
death to be ultimately vanquished and destroyed 3 . 

The style of Hosea has been considered as particu- 
larly obscure ; it is sententious and abrupt, and charac- 
terised by a compressed and antiquated cast. The 
transitions of person are sudden; the connexive and 
adversative particles frequently omitted. 

His figures and similitudes are rather lively than 
elegant, and are traced with more force than exact- 
ness 4 . His writings are animated with a fine spirit of 
indignation, descriptive of the zealous resentment which 
he felt against the princes and priests who counte- 
nanced the iniquities of the people : and his work may 
be considered as a noble exordium against those general 
offences which the Prophets who succeeded him more 
particularly detailed ; as well as a diffusive revelation of 
those judgments which were afterwards more minutely 
described. 

The subject of Hosea's marriage has been much 
agitated. Many Jewish and Christian writers conceive 
it to have been enjoined, and performed in a literal 
and historical sense 5 ; some supposing that " a wife of 

1 Ch. x. 8. comp. with Luke xxiii. 30. and Rev. vi. 16. Hieron. 
in loc. and Lowth on Isaiah ii. 19. 

2 Ch. x. 12. Hieron. in loc. 

3 Ch. xiii. 14. comp. with 1 Cor. xv. 55. and Pococke, in loc. 

4 Lowth's Praelect. 21. 

s Hieron. et Theodoret in loc. August. Grotius, Calmet's 



OF THE BOOK OF HOSEA. 423 

whoredoms" may imply a wife who should prove false 6 ; 
or only a wife from among the Israelites, who were re- 
markable for their idolatrous fornications ; as likewise 
by an adulteress 7 , whom the Prophet is represented 
afterwards to have bought, may be understood, a 
woman who had apostatized from God in a spiritual 
sense. Those who contend for the historical truth of 
these relations, maintain that all impropriety in such 
proceedings was done away by God's command ; and 
that the immediate minister of God might, consistently 
with the design of his appointment, be employed thus 
to illustrate the scandalous conduct of the Israelites. 
Some writers, however, affirm that these accounts are 
descriptive of transactions in vision, as the expression 
of " the word of the Lord," that came to the Prophet, 
might seem to intimate s ; and others consider the re- 
lations as fictitious representations imparted by way of 
parable 9 . Without presuming to determine on either 
side on a subject so difficult, it may be observed, that 

Preface. Abarben. et Basil in loc. cap. viii. p. 983. Grot, et 
Wells in loc. 

6 Wells, Diodati, &c. 

7 It is uncertain, whether by the woman spoken of in the third 
chapter is meant Hosea's wife, whom he is commanded to take back 
after her infidelity, as predicted ; or a different person appointed for 
the Prophet after the death of the first wife. Consult Pococke, and 
other commentators. 

8 Aben-Ezra, R. David Kimchi, Maimon. More Nevoch. 1. ii. 
c. xlvi. Hieron. Praefat. in Osee, torn. iii. p. 1233-4. and General 
Preface, p. 327. n. 6 . 

9 Hieron. in loc. Aben-Ezra, Isidor. &c. The Chaldee Para- 
phrast has been thought to have considered the relation as a parable. 
He introduces the account thus : " The Lord said unto Hosea, Go, 
and utter a prophecy," &c. Vid. R. Tanch. Rivet, Junius Tremel- 
lius, Pococke, &c. 



424 OF THE BOOK OF HOSEA. 

it was not inconsistent with the character of a vision or 
of a parabolical fiction, to specify minute particulars 
with narrative exactness *. The names, therefore, of 
the personages introduced 2 in the accounts, cannot 
afford any explanation of the nature of the transactions; 
and whether real or fictitious, they might with equal 
consistency be represented as figurative. 

1 Ezek. xxiii. Luke xvi. 20 — 31. 

2 By " children of whoredoms," we are probably to understand 
legitimate children of a woman addicted to fornication : perverse, 
lewd, or idolatrous children, who should imitate the conduct of their 
mother. 



OF THE 

BOOK OF THE PROPHET 
JOEL. 



The Book of Joel is placed in the Hebrew Bible im- 
mediately after that of Hosea ; but in the Septuagint 
version the books of Amos and Micah are interposed 
between them. It is difficult to determine whether 
the Greek translators were authorized by chronology 
to change the order, since there is no positive criterion 
by which the age of Joel can be ascertained. St. Jerom, 
however, and many of the ancients \ were of opinion, 
that as not any date is prefixed to the book, its author 
should be supposed, agreeably to the Jewish rule, to 
have flourished under the same reigns with those of the 
Prophet whose work with a defined sera immediately 
precedes, that is, Hosea. This rule is, however, not to 
be depended on ; neither can any proof of the antiquity 
of Joel be drawn from the notion supported by Usher 2 ; 
who conceived that the famine and drought of which 

1 Hieron. Praef. in Proph. Theodor. Procem. in 12 Proph. p. 701. 
edit. Paris, 1642. Clem. Alex. Strom, lib. i. p. 390. edit. Potter. 
August, de Civit. Dei, lib. xviii. c. xxvii. 

2 Usser ad a.m. 3197. Lloyd's Tables. 



426 OF THE BOOK OF JOEL. 

Joel speaks as impending in his time, were parts of the 
same affliction which Amos represented as actually come 
to pass 8 ; for Joel prophesied calamities against Judah ; 
and Amos described punishments which were seemingly 
sustained, as peculiar judgments, only by the people of 
Israel. Still, however, there is no sufficient reason for 
departing from the Hebrew order 4 ; nor is it necessary 
to suppose that Joel prophesied after the captivity of 
the ten tribes, merely because he makes no mention of 
Israel. His commission probably was confined to Judah, 
as that of Hosea, his supposed contemporary, was chiefly 
restricted to Samaria ; and it might be argued rather, 
that if the Divine threats had been already accom- 
plished against Israel, it is reasonable to suppose that 
the Prophet would, like his successors, have instructed 
the people to take warning by the fate of a sister king- 
dom 5 . We may, therefore, safely suppose him to have 
lived in the reigns of Uzziah, king of Judah, and "of 
Jeroboam, king of Israel 6 , who flourished as contempo- 
rary sovereigns between a.m. 3194 and 3219; and to 
have delivered his prophecies soon after Hosea had 
commenced his ministry; though some Jewish and 
Christian writers have chosen to assign to him a later 

3 Amos iv. 7, 8. 4 Abarben. Prsef. in 12 Proph. 

5 Israel mentioned in ch. iii. 2. means not merely the ten tribes, 
but the whole nation of the Jews ; and the Prophet speaks propheti- 
cally of a future dispersion among the nations from which God's 
people should be gathered. 

6 Lloyd's Tables. A French writer, (P. Pezron Essai d'un Com- 
mentaire sur les Prophetes,) fixes the prophecy of Joel to the twen- 
tieth year of Uzziah, and the thirty-sixth of Jeroboam the Second. 
See also, Joel ii. 20. which contains a prediction, that seems, at least, 
in its secondary sense, to relate to the destruction of Sennacherib's 
army, which happened in the reign of Hezekiah, a.m. 3294. 



OF THE BOOK OF JOEL. 427 

period 7 ; some placing him in the reign of Jotham 8 ; 
others in that of Joram 9 ; and a third class contending 
that he prophesied under Manasseth \ or Josiah 2 ; the 
last of which monarchs began to reign about 640 years 
before the birth of Christ. 

Joel was the son of Pethuel, or Bethuel, and, ac- 
cording to «ome reports, of the tribe of Reuben 3 . He 
is related to have been born at Bethoron 4 ; which was 
probably the lower or nether Bethoron, a town in the 
territory of Benjamin 5 , between Jerusalem and Cae- 
sarea. Of the particulars of his life, or of the age to 
which he attained, we have not any account 6 . Doro- 

7 Poli Synopsis. 8 August, de Civit. Dei, lib. xviii. c. xxvii. 

9 The advocates for this period maintain, that Joel foreshowed the 
impending famine which desolated Judaea, seven years in the reign of 
Joram. Vid. 2 Kings viii. 1 — 3. 

1 Seder Olam Rabba, et Zuta, Kimchi, R. Selomo, R. David 
Ganz, Drusius, and Wells' Preface to Joel. Wells maintains, that 
the famine or dearth of which Micah prophesied, was to take place 
(and did happen) in the time of Manasseth. Vid. Wells's Preface to 
Micah, and in Micah vi. 14 note a . 

2 Calmet's Preface sur Joel. He conceives Joel to have been con- 
temporary with Josiah, to whose reign he assigns the drought spoken 
of by Jeremiah, chap. xii. 4. xiv. But the last of these chapters, 
whether prophetic or descriptive, was composed probably in the 
reign of Jehoiakim, the successor of Josiah. 

3 Epiphan. de Yit. Prophet. 

4 Dorotheus writes Bethomeron. Huet proposes to read Betharan, 
a place in the territory of Gad, adjacent to the tribe of Reuben ; or 
Bethnemra, in the district of Gad ; or Bethabara ; or Beelmeon, 
which was beyond Jordan, in the tribe of Reuben, Prop. iv. 

5 Josh, xviii. 13, 14. 

6 Jerom, though he supposes him to have been contemporary with 
Hosea, conceives that he survived (as well as Hosea, Amos, Obadiah, 
and Jonah) the captivity of the ten tribes. 



428 OF THE BOOK OF JOEL. 

theus relates only, that he died in peace at the place of 
his nativity. 

The book has been regarded as recording events 
which had occurred ; but it appears rather to be en- 
tirely prophetic, though Joel, under the impression of 
foreseen calamities, describes their effects as present ; 
and by an animated representation, anticipates the 
scenes of misery which loured over Judaea 7 . Although 
it cannot be positively determined to what period the 
description contained in the first and second chapter 
may apply, it has been sometimes supposed that the 
Prophet blends two subjects of affliction in one general 
consideration, or beautiful allegory ; and, that under 
the devastation to be effected by locusts in the vege- 
table world, he depicts some more distant calamities 
to be produced by the armies of the Chaldseans in their 
invasion of Judsea 8 . Hence a designed ambiguity in 
the expressions. 

In the second chapter the Prophet proceeds to a 
more general denunciation of God's vengeance, which 
is delivered with such force and aggravation of circum- 
stance as to be, in some measure, descriptive of that 
final judgment which every temporal dispensation of the 
Almighty must faintly prefigure. The severe declara- 

7 Chap. i. 4—7—10. 16. 28. and Lowth's Prselect. 15. 

8 Those who will consult Pliny, Bochart, and the naturalists and 
travellers in general, will find much cause to admire Joel's descrip- 
tive pictures of the destruction to be produced by locusts ; and un- 
derstand with what force and propriety the ravages of those all-de- 
vouring enemies are made figuratively to represent the devastation 
and havock of an invading army. Shaw's Travels, p. 257. edit. 
Oxford, 1738. 



OF THE BOOK OF JOEL. 429 

tions of Joel are intermingled with exhortations to re- 
pentance, and to the subsidiary means of promoting its 
effects, fasting and prayer ; as likewise with promises 
of deliverance, and of a prosperity predictive of evan- 
gelical blessings. In treating of these he takes occa- 
sion to foretell, in the clearest terms, the general effu- 
sion of the Holy Spirit, which was to characterize the 
Gospel dispensations 9 , before the destruction of Jeru- 
salem ; concluding with a striking description of the 
fall of that city, which followed soon after, and punished 
the Jews for their obstinate rejection of the sacred in- 
fluence ; speaking in terms which as well as those of 
our Saviour that resembled them \ had a double aspect, 
and referred to a primary and a final dispensation. 

In the third chapter, Joel proceeds to foretell the 
future assemblage of all nations into the valley of Je- 
hoshaphat 2 , where the enemies of God will be cut off 
by some final excision 3 . The Prophet concludes with 
the assurance of some glorious state of prosperity to be 
enjoyed by the church, after the destruction of its ene- 
mies, when the Lord God should dwell in Zion, and a 
fountain should come forth out of the house of the 
Lord, to purify a polluted people by an effectual 

9 Joel ii. 28 — 32. comp. with Acts ii. 1—21. and Acts ii. 38, 39. 
x. 44. 

1 Joel ii. 30, 31. comp. with Matt. xxiv. 29. 

2 The original expression means the valley of the Lord's judg- 
ment, from Jehovah, and Shaphat, to judge. 

3 Chap. iii. 1 — 14. The precise application of this prophecy must 
be shown by the event. It is supposed to relate to those circum- 
stances which are predicted in Ezekiel, ch. xxxix. 5 — 11. Rev. 
xx. 8, 9. 



430 OF THE BOOK OF JOEL. 

cleansing; and to diffuse spiritual blessings through 
barren wastes, poetically described under images of 
nature, and the consecrated emblems of revelation 4 . 

In consideration of these important prophecies, we 
need not wonder that the Jews should have looked up 
to Joel with particular reverence 5 , or that he should be 
cited as a Prophet by the evangelical writers 6 . The 
work, whether historical or prophetical, whether it 
relate to a plague by locusts, or to destruction by 
an invading army, or to both, affords a proof and ex- 
ample of the infliction of national judgments against 
national sins, and the necessity of repentance to avert 
them 7 . 

The style of Joel is equally perspicuous and elegant ; 
obscure only towards the conclusion, where the beauties 
of his expression are somewhat shaded by allusion to 
circumstances yet unaccomplished. His descriptions 
are highly animated ; the contexture of the prophecy in 
the first and second chapters is extremely curious ; and 
the double destruction to be produced by locusts, and 
those enemies of which they were harbingers, is painted 
with the most expressive force, under terms that are 
reciprocally metaphorical, and admirably adapted to the 
twofold character of the description 8 . The whole 
work is extremely poetical, and is pronounced by Dr. 
Gregory Sharp as one of the finest poems ever com- 

4 Chap. iii. 16. 20, 21. 

5 Joel is related to have received the Cabala, or traditionary expli- 
cation of the law from Micah. 

6 See Pococke's Commentary. 

7 Chap. ii. 32. comp. with Rom. x. 13. Acts ii. 16—21. 

8 Lowth's Prel. 21. Chandler, &c. 



OF THE BOOK OF JOEL. 431 

posed 9 . Hermon Vonder Hardt l , a learned German, 
conceiving that Joel's prophecies were composed in 
elegies, endeavoured, about the beginning of the seven- 
teenth century, to reduce them to Iambic verse. They, 
undoubtedly, like the rest of the prophecies, have a 
metrical arrangement. 

9 See 2d argument in defence of Christianity, p. 312. 
1 Wolfii Biblioth. Heb. pars 2. p. 169. and Lowth's Pref. to 
Isaiah. 



OF THE 

BOOK OF THE PROPHET 
AMOS. 



Amos appears to have been contemporary with Hosea, 
but it is uncertain which was the first honoured by 
Divine revelations. They both began to prophesy 
during the time that Uzziah and Jeroboam the Second 
reigned over their respective kingdoms ; and Amos 
saw his first vision " two years before the earth- 
quake l ;" which, as we learn from Zechariah 2 , hap- 
pened in the days of Uzziah. As there is no sufficient 
reason to suppose that this first verse was added by any 
writer subsequent to Amos, since he himself might 
have annexed the sera in which he beheld his vision, 
when he afterwards collected his prophecies, and com- 
mitted them to writing, we must suppose this earth- 
quake to have happened while Uzziah and Jeroboam 
were contemporaries, or at least within two years of 
that period. But little attention, therefore, is due to 
the account of Josephus : who represents the shock to 
have been felt on the occasion of Uzziah's usurpation of 

1 Amos i. 1. 2 Zechariah xiv. 5. 



OF THE BOOK OF AMOS. 433 

the priestly office, when the presumptuous king trans- 
gressed against God by offering incense to the Lord 3 ; 
which daring impiety is by some placed in the twenty- 
fifth year 4 , and by some still more towards the conclu- 
sion of Uzziah's reign 5 ; for, according to the most 
extended calculations, Jeroboam and Uzziah did not 
reign as contemporary sovereigns above twenty-five 
years. Amos, however, began to prophesy some time 
between a.m. 3194 and 3219. Some have confounded 
him with the father of Isaiah. 

The Prophet Amos 6 was a native of Tekoa, a small 
town in the territory of Judah, about four leagues 
southward from Jerusalem, and six southward from 
Bethlehem 7 ; adjacent to a vast wilderness, where pro- 
bably Amos might have exercised his profession of an 
herdsman. Some, indeed, think that he was not born 
at Tekoa, but that he only resided there when com- 

3 2 Chron. xxvi. 16-21. 

4 Joseph. Antiq. lib. ix. cap. x. xi. 

5 The sacrilegious attempt was probably made towards the con- 
clusion of Uzzhh's reign, as upon that occasion he was stricken with 
a leprosy that lasted unto the day of his death ; and his son Jotham 
took upon him the government, who was not born till after Jeroboam's 
death. Vid. Usser. Annal. ad a.m. 3221. 

8 Clemens Alex. Strom, lib. i. p. 389. edit. Potter. Epiphan. de 
Vit. Prophet, D1DP, Amos, or Hamos, signifies /3aora'£W, portans, 
laden, that is, perhaps, with the burden of prophecy, chap. vii. 10. 
If names were intentionally descriptive, they must have been provi- 
dentially imposed, or assumed after the display of character. 

7 Amos i. 1. 2 Chron. xi. 5, 6. Epiphanius places it in the lot 
of Zebulon ; but Eusebius, Cyril, and St. Jerom, who lived near 
Tekoa, place it to the south of Jerusalem, in the territory of Judaea, 
about six miles from Bethlehem. Vid. Euseb. de locis Ebraicis. 
Cyrill. Alexandr. Praef. in Amos. Hiefon. Procem. in Amos, et de 
locis Ebraicis. 

Ff 



434 OF THE BOOK OF AMOS. 

manded by Amaziah to leave Bethel 8 . Amos, how- 
ever, does not appear to have regarded the arrogant 
injunction of the Priest, but to have continued boldly 
to prophesy wherever the service of God required his 
presence. 

Amos was by profession a herdsman, and a gatherer 
of sycamore fruit 9 . In the simplicity of former times, 
and in the happy climates of the East, these occupa- 
tions were by no means considered in that degrading 
light in which they have been viewed since refinement 
has introduced a taste for the elegant arts of life, and 
established fastidious distinctions. He was no Prophet, 
as he informed Amaziah ! , neither was he a Prophet's 
son : that is, he had no regular education in the 
schools of the Prophets, but was called by an express 
irresistible commission from God 2 , to prophesy unto 
his people Israel. The Holy Spirit did not disdain to 
speak by the voice of the most humble man ; and 
selected its ministers as well from the tents of the 
shepherd, as from the palace of the sovereign 3 : re- 
specting only the qualities and not the condition of its 
agents, as capable of inspiring knowledge and eloquence 
where they did not exist. 

8 Chap. vii. 12. 

9 Chap. vii. 14. The sycamore fruit was a species of wild fig, 
sometimes called the Egyptian fig or date, which is said to grow not 
among the leaves, but on shoots from the top. The Septuagint 
translators interpret the Hebrew words D»apttf D^lll, Kvi£i*>v ra 
avk-dfiwa, opening the sycamine fruit ; as it was thought necessary 
to open the skin of this fruit that it might ripen. Vid. Plinii Hist. 
Natur. lib. xiii. cap. vii. Theophras. Dioscorid. lib. i. cap. cl. et 
Theodoret, in loc. 

1 Chap. vii. 14. 2 Amos iii. 8. vii. 15. 

3 1 Cor. i. 27—29. 



OF THE BOOK OF AMOS. 435 

Amos, there can be little doubt, composed his pro- 
phecies in their present form. He speaks of himself 
as the author of them \ and his prophetic character is 
established not only by the admission of his book into 
the sacred canon, and by the testimony of other writers 2 , 
but by the exact accomplishment of many prophecies 
which he delivered. 

The work consists of several distinct discourses ; the 
particular period of their delivery cannot now be ascer- 
tained 3 . They chiefly respect the kingdom of Israel, 
though the Prophet sometimes inveighs against Judah, 
and threatens the kingdoms that bordered on the pro- 
mised land 4 ; the Syrians 5 ; Philistines 6 ; Tyrians 7 ; 
Edomites 8 ; Ammonites 9 ; and Moabites 10 , for cruelties 
committed against the Israelites in which were fulfilled 
the predictions of former Prophets 11 . He foretels in 

1 Chap. vii. 8. viii. 1, 2. 

2 Tobit ii. 6. Acts vii. 42, 43. xv. 15—17. 

3 Some have supposed that the first of his prophecies is contained 
in the seventh chapter ; and that the contents of the other chapters 
were afterwards delivered at Tekoa. 

4 Vid. two first chapters. These prophecies were fulfilled by the 
victories of the Kings of Assyria and Babylon. 

5 Ch. i. 3 — 5. comp. with 2 Kings xvi. 9. 

6 Ch. i. 6, 7. comp. with 2 Kings xviii. 8. Jerem. xlvii. 1. 
Quint. Curt. lib. iv. 6. comp. also ch. i. 8. with 2 Chron. xxvi. 8. 
and Jerem. xlvii. 5. 

7 Ch. i. 9, 10. comp. with Ezek. xxvi. 7- — 14. Joseph, cont. 
Apion. lib. i. p. 1347. and Q. Curt. lib. iv. c. iii. et iv. 

8 Ch. i. 11, 12. comp. with Jerem. xxv. 9. 21. and xxvii. 3 — 6. 
1 Mace. v. 3. and Prid. Con. part ii. ad ami. a.c. 165. Joseph. 
Antiq. lib. xiii. c. ix. 

Ch. i. 13 — 15. comp. with Jerem. xxvii. 3. 6. 

10 Gh. ii. 1 — 3. comp. Jerem. xxvii. 3 — 6. 

11 2 Kings viii. 12. x. 32, 33. xiii. 3— 7. 

F f 2 



436 OF THE BOOK OF AMOS. 

clear terms the captivities and the destruction of Israel, 
the woeful vanity of their desire of the day of the Lord, 
which should be as darkness and not light unto them \ 
He foreshows that they should be carried for their 
idolatries to their god, Moloch and Chiun, into cap- 
tivity beyond Damascus 2 ; that their festivities should 
be turned into mourning, and their sanctuaries should 
be laid waste, and that God should cause the sun to go 
down at noon, and the earth to be darkened in the 
clear day 3 , manifesting fearful signs on earth, and in 
the heavens 4 . He concludes with assurances that the 
Almighty would not utterly destroy the house of Jacob ; 
but that after sifting, as it were, and cleansing the 
house of Israel among the nations, God should again 
raise up the tabernacle, that is the kingdom of David ; 
to be enlarged to more than its first splendour by the 
accession of Gentile subjects ; and to be succeeded by 
the establishment of that government which the Pro- 
phet describes under poetical images as a blessed dis- 
pensation of security; abundance, and peace 5 . 

The zeal with which the Prophet reproved the im- 
penitence of the people, and the severe threats which 

1 Ch. v. 18. 2 Ch. v. 27. comp. with Acts vii. 43. 

3 Amos vi. and vii. 9. viii. 8, 9. See also Matt, xxvii. 45. 

4 Ch. viii. 8, 9. Usher remarks, that about eleven years after the 
time at which Amos prophesied, there were two eclipses of the sun ; 
one upon the feast of Tabernacles, and the other at the time of the 
Passover. The prophecy, therefore, in its first aspect, might allude 
to the ominous darkness, which, on these occasions, " turned their 
feasts into mourning." Vid. Usser. Annal. ad a.m. 3213. Hieron. 
Theod. and Grot, in loc. 

5 Amosix. 11—15. Acts xv. 17. Tobit xiii. 10, 11. Joel iii. 18. 
Chandler's Def. chap. ii. sect. 1. p. 168. and Com. in loc. August, 
de Civit. Dei, lib. xviii. c. xxviii. 



OF THE BOOK OF AMOS. 437 

he pronounced against the oppression, effeminacy, and 
luxurious indolence that prevailed, exasperated so much 
the court of Jeroboam, which cultivated its idolatries 
at Bethel, that they drew upon him the resentment of 
the priests and princes of the people ; and tradition 
relates, that he was 6 ill treated and put to death by 
Uzziah, the son of Amaziah 7 , who was irritated by his 
prophecies and censures ; but who soon after expe- 
rienced the Divine vengeance in the calamities which 
Amos had predicted to his family and country. 

Some writers who have adverted to the condition of 
Amos, have, with a minute affectation of criticism, pre- 
tended to discover a certain rudeness and vulgarity in 
his style ; and even St. Jerom is of opinion, that he is 
deficient in magnificence and sublimity : applying to 
him the words which St. Paul speaks of himself 8 , " that 
he was nule in speech, though not in knowledge ;" and 
his authority, says Bishop Lowth, has influenced many 
commentators to represent him as entirely rude and 
void of ornament ; whereas it requires but little atten- 
tion to be convinced that he " is not a whit behind the 
very chiefest" of the Prophets : equal to the greatest in 
loftiness of sentiment, and scarcely inferior to any in 
the splendour of his diction, and in the elegance of his 
composition. Locke has observed, that his comparisons 
are chiefly drawn from lions and other animals, because 
he lived among, and was conversant with such objects. 
But, indeed, the finest images and allusions which adorn 

6 Cyrill. Praef. in Amos. 

7 Epiphan. de Vit. Proph. c. xii. Isidor. de Vita et Morte S.S. 
c. xliii. Doroth. Synop. cap. ii. Chron. Pascal, p. 119. edit. Venet. 
1729. 

8 Hieron. Com. in Amos. 2 Cor. xi. 6. 



438 OF THE BOOK OF AMOS. 

the poetical parts of Scripture in general, are drawn 
from scenes of nature, and from the grand objects that 
range in its walks ; true genius ever delights in con- 
sidering these as the real sources of beauty and mag- 
nificence 9 . Amos had the opportunities, and a mind 
inclined to contemplate the works of God, and his 
descriptions of the Almighty are particularly sublime. 
His whole book is animated with a very fine masculine 
eloquence. 

Lowth's PraeL Poet. 21. p. 211. edit. Oxon. 1753. 



OF THE 



BOOK OF THE PROPHET 
OBADIAH. 



This Prophet has not transmitted to us any particulars 
of his own origin or life, any more than of the period 
in which he was favoured with Divine revelations. 
That he received a commission to prophesy is evident ; 
as well from the admission of his work into the sacred 
canon, as from the completion of those predictions 
which he delivered. According to some traditionary 
accounts l , he was of the tribe of Ephraim ; and a 
native of Bathacamar 2 , which Epiphanius describes as 
in the neighbourhood of Sichem ; but which, according 
to Huet, was a town in the hilly part of the territory of 
Judah ; and there probably he prophesied, though some 
suppose that he was carried captive to Babylon ; and 
others that he died in Samaria 3 . 

1 Pseudo-Epiphan. Doroth. Isidor. &c. 

2 Or Bethacara, or Bethacaron. Huet proposes to read Bethacad, 
a town of Samaria : but Obadiah was probably of the tribe of Judah, 
and prophesied against the insulting enemies of his country. 

3 St. Jerom speaks of his tomb at Sebaste, formerly at Samaria, 
and says, that St. Paul visited it, and performed miracles there ; this 



440 OF THE BOOK OF OBADIAH. 

There is scarce an Obadiah mentioned in sacred his- 
tory who has not been considered by different writers 
as the same person with the Prophet : the prince whom 
Jehoshaphat employed to teach in the cities of Judah 4 ; 
the governor of Ahab's house, who rescued the hun- 
dred Prophets from the vengeance of Jezebel 5 ; the 
captain of Ahaziah, who found favour with Elijah 6 ; 
the overseer appointed by Josiah to inspect the repara- 
tion of the temple 7 ; each has been separately repre- 
sented as the Prophet, though not one of them is 
characterized in Scripture under that description ; and 
all of them, except perhaps the last, lived long before 
the period at which Obadiah the Prophet must be sup- 
posed to have flourished. Equally unfounded are those 
conjectures by which it is imagined that he was the 
husband of the widow of Zarephath 8 , and a disciple of 
Elijah 9 ; as well as that of the ancient Hebrew doc- 
tors, who conceived that he was an Idumsean, who, 
having become a proselyte to the Jewish religion, was 



could not have contained the remains of Obadiah, for when Jerom 
lived, in the time of the emperor Julian, the Gentiles emptied the 
sepulchres, burnt the bones of the Prophets, and dispersed the ashes, 
after mixing them with those of beasts, about a. d. 362. Vid. Julian, 
Misopogon, and Baillet Vies des Saints du V. Test. 14 Juin. 19 Nov. 

4 2 Chron. xvii. 7. Sanct. Proleg. ii. n. 5. 

5 1 Kings xviii. 4. Hieron. in Abdian, et in Epitaph, c. vi. Paul. 
R. Selemoh. Jarchi, R. David Kimchi, and R. Aben-Ezra in Abd. 
1. R. David Ganz, in Chron. Sixt. Senens. in Abd. et Mercer. Chron. 

6 2 Kings i. 13 — 15. Clemens Alex. Strom. 1. p. 387. Euseb. 
Chron. 

7 2 Chron. xxxiv. 12. 

8 Lyan. in 4 Reg. c. iv. initio. The widow of Zarephath has also 
been represented as the mother of the Prophet Jonah. 

9 Clemens Alex. Strom, i. p. 387. Euseb. Chron. et Aben-Ezra. 



OF THE BOOK OP OBADIAH. 441 

inspired to prophesy against the country of which he 
had forsaken the superstitions K 

Huet, and other writers, in consideration of the place 
which Obadiah holds among the Prophets in the He- 
brew canon, suppose him to have been contemporary 
with Hosea, Amos, and Joel. In conformity to which 
opinion, Huet also conceives that the Prophet delivered 
his threats against the Edomites 2 , because they took 
possession of Elah after it had been conquered by Pekah 
and Rezin in the reign of Ahaz, and exercised great 
cruelties against the Jews 3 , conspiring with- their ene- 
mies to harass and to cut them off when endeavouring 
to escape from the Assyrians 4 . All those writers who 
imagine that Obadiah foretold the calamities which the 
Edomites suffered from the invasion of Sennacherib, 
maintain that he lived in the reign of Ahaz or Heze- 
kiah ; but it is more probable that he flourished about 

1 R. Selemoth. Jarchi, et R. David Kimchi, in Abd. i. et R. Isr. 
Abarb. Praef. in Prophet. Minor. Cyrill. Praef. in Abd. 

2 The Edomites were the descendants of Esau ; they possessed 
Arabia Petraea, all the country between the Red Sea and the Lake 
of Sodom, and some adjacent territory. 

3 Huet. Demons. Evan, in Abd. Cyrill. Praef. in Abd. Grotius. 
and Lightfoot's Harmon, of the Old Test. In our translation of 2 
Kings xvi. 6. no mention is made of the Edomites, but in the Vul- 
gate it is rendered, " the Edomites came to Elah." The word D*)N 
much resembles that of DTK, and Calmet thinks that it should be 
written Edom instead of Syria, throughout the verse, as the Edomites 
had previously possession of Elah, but it does not appear that the 
Syrians had been masters of it, for whom it could not, therefore, be 
recovered. Still, however, the Chaldaean, Hebrew, Syriac, and 
Arabic versions, as well as Josephus, suppose that Rezin took Elah 
for the Syrians, and established them there. Vid. Joseph. Antiq. 
lib. ix. cap. xii. p. 423. Grotius, &c. 

4 Ver 11. and 14. 



442 OF THE BOOK OF OBADIAH. 

the same time with Ezekiel and Jeremiah; and the 
best opinions concur in supposing him to have prophe- 
sied a little after the destruction of Jerusalem by Ne- 
buchadnezzar, which happened about a.m. 3416. He 
predicted, therefore, the same circumstances which 
those Prophets had foretold against the Edomites 5 , 
who had, upon many occasions, favoured the enemies 
of Judah 6 ; and who, when strangers carried their 
forces into captivity, and when they cast lots upon 
Jerusalem, had rejoiced at the destruction, and insulted 
the children of Judah in their affliction 7 . 

The Prophet, after describing the pride and cruelty 
of the Edomites, declares that though they dwelt in 
fancied security among the clefts of the rocks 8 , yet 
that the " mighty men of Teman 9 should be dis- 
mayed," and " every one of the Mount of Esau should 
be cut off by slaughter ;" intimating that those who had 
confederated with them against Jacob l , and had been 
considered by them as their allies, should contribute to 

5 Comp. Obad. ver. 3, 4. with Jerem. xlix. 16. Obad. ver. 5. 
with Jerem. xlix. 9. Obad. ver. 8. with Jer. xlix. 7. Obad. ver. 
16. with Jer. xxv. 15—21. and xlix. 7—12. Vid. Ezek. xxv. 12. 
14. and chap. xxxv. 

6 2 Ghron. xxviii. 17. Joel iii. 19. 

7 Ver. 11 — 14. Psalm cxxxvii. 7. 

8 The south part of Palestine, from Eleutheropolis to Petra, (the 
ancient capital of Idumasa) and Elah, was full of rocks, among which 
the natives dwelt. Vid. Hieron. in loc. 

9 Teman, a city, or, as some say, a province of Idumsea, so called 
from Teman, grandson of Esau. Vid. Jerem. xlix. 7. Amos i. 12. 
Vid. Hieron. et Euseb. in loc. Ebraicis. 

1 Obadiah uses the expression, " thy brother Jacob," in reproach- 
ful allusion to Esau's hatred against Jacob. Vid. Gen. xxvii. 41. a 
primary source of God's displeasure against the Edomites. 

7 



OF THE BOOK OF OBADIAH. 443 

inflict the punishment of their malevolence. The Pro- 
phet concludes with consolatory assurances of future 
restoration and prosperity to the Israelites and to the 
Jews, to whom should arise deliverance from Zion: 
Saviours who should judge the nations ; and a spiritual 
kingdom, appropriated and consecrated to the Lord. 
These prophecies began to be completed when Nebu- 
chadnezzar ravaged Idumaea 2 , and dispossessed the 
Edomites of much of Arabia-Petraea, which they never 
afterwards recovered. But they were still farther ful- 
filled in the conquests of the Maccabees over the re- 
mainder of the Edomites 3 ; and they received the final 
accomplishment in the advent of that Redeemer, whom 
preceding Saviours had prefigured. 

Obadiah's name implies, the servant of Jehovah, a 
title equivalent to that by which Moses was distin- 
guished 4 , and to that in which St. Paul gloried. The 
Prophet's work is short, but composed with much 
beauty ; it unfolds a very interesting scene of prophecy, 
and an instructive lesson against vain confidence and 
malicious exultation. 



2 Usser. ad a.m. 3419. Joseph. Antiq. lib. x. c. ix. 

3 1 Mace. v. 3. 65. 4 Numb. xii. 7. 



OF THE 



BOOK OF THE PROPHET 
JONAH. 



Though Jonah is placed fifth in the order of the Minor 
Prophets, both in the Hebrew and in the Septuagint 
copies, he is generally considered as the most ancient 
of all the Prophets, not excepting Hosea. Jonah was 
the son of Amittai, of the tribe of Zabulon ; and was 
born at Gath-hepher \ which is supposed to have been 
the same place with Jotapeta ; a town remarkable for 
having sustained, under the conduct of Josephus, a 
siege against the Roman army. It was situated in the 
land of Zabulon, near Siphorim 2 , towards Tiberias, 
where was the district of Ophir, or Hepher. St. Jerom 

1 Vid. 2 Kings xiv. 25. The same place probably with Gittah 
Hepher. Vid. Josh. xix. 13. Dorotheus erroneously affirms, that 
he was born at Carjathmaus, or Carjathjarim, in the tribe of Judah ; 
and buried at Saar, (Tyre in Phoenicia,) and St. Jerom has taken 
the trouble to refute some who maintained that Jonah was born at 
another Geth, near Lyddas, or Diospolis, confounding Geth with 
Gath-hepher, and Diospolis with Diocaesarea. 

2 Now called Diocaesarea. Joseph, de Bell. Jud. lib. iii. c. vi. 
p. 1141. Vid. Hieron. Procem. Com. in Jonam. 



OF THE BOOK OF JONAH. 445 

informs us, that the Prophet's sepulchre was shown 
there in his time ; and there the natives still believe it 
to exist 3 . Since this place (as indeed all the land of 
Zabulon) was in Galilee 4 , it may be produced in con- 
futation of the illiberal assertion of the Pharisees, that 
" out of Galilee ariseth no Prophet 5 ." The Orientals 
now show his tomb at Mosul 6 , which they suppose to 
be the site where Nineveh stood ; and the Turks have 
built a mosque there, in which they pretend to possess 
his relics : while others, who reside at Gath-hepher, 
now a little bonrgade, show a mausoleum of Jonah in a 
subterraneous chapel, inclosed in a mosque, and compel 
travellers to enter it barefoot. Such are the contests 
of superstitious reverence, or the pretensions of mer- 
cenary rivalship. 

Some Jewish writers report upon a very groundless 
fancy, that Jonah was the son of the widow of Zare- 
phath, whom Elijah raised from the dead 7 ; but Jonah 

3 Benjarn. Tudel. Itiner. et Brocardus Argentoratensis Descrip. 
Terrae Sanctae. 

4 Isaiah ix. 1. Matt. iv. 13. 

5 John vii. 52. Nalmm was a Galilean by birth, though of the 
tribe of Simeon ; and Malachi, as some say. 

6 Thevenot's Travels, part ii. book i. ch. xi. p. 50. Mosul, now 
the seat of the Patriarch of the Nestorians, is on the western side of 
the Tigris; and is by some asserted to have been a suburb of 
Nineveh, which is said to have been on the eastern side, though 
Pliny maintains it to have been situated on the western side. Vid. 
Plinii lib. vi. cap. 13. p. 311. edit. Harduin. 1723. Benjamin 
Tudela, Itiner. Marsham Chron. Saec. xviii. p. 598. 

7 Hieron. et Isidor. et Quaest. ad Antioch. in Append, ad Oper. 
S. Athan. Qn. lxv. torn. ii. p. 354. edit. Paris, 1627. Jonah was 
the son of Amittai, which word implies Truth in the Hebrew, and 
the widow had said to Elijah, " The word of the Lord in thy mouth 
is truth." Vid. 1 Kings xvii. 24. Hence the Rabbinical conceit. 



446 OF THE BOOK OF JONAH. 

represents himself as an Hebrew, and Zarephath was a 
city of Sidon 8 . He is generally supposed to have 
prophesied in the reigns of Joash and Jeroboam the 
Second, Kings of Israel ; the former of whom began to 
reign, a.m. 3163, the latter died a.m. 3220. In the 
second book of Kings 9 , Jonah is said to have prophe- 
sied concerning Jeroboam, that he should " restore the 
coast of Israel ;" which prophecy, now not extant, was 
perhaps delivered in the reign of Jehoahaz, the grand- 
father of Jeroboam, when the kingdom of Israel was 
greatly oppressed by the Syrians * ; and, therefore, it is 
probable that Bishop Lloyd does not place him much 
too high in supposing that he prophesied towards the 
latter end of Jehu's reign ; or in the beginning of that 
of Jehoahaz, when Hazael, by his cruel treatment of 
Israel, was verifying the predictions of Elisha 2 . So 
that though Jonah might be contemporary with Hosea, 
Amos, and Isaiah, he appears to have uttered the pro- 
phecy alluded to, before any were delivered of those 
now existing in the writings of the Prophets ; and the 
prophecy concerning Nineveh, of which the publication 
is related in this book, must, contrary to the opinion of 
many writers 3 , have been delivered long before the 
time that Obadiah prophesied. 

Others make him the son of the woman of Shunem, a place in the 
tribe of Issachar. Vid. 2 Kings iv. 16. Some maintain that he 
was the Prophet who was sent to anoint Jehu King over Israel. 
Vid. 2 Kings ix. 1,2. R. David Kimchi, &c. 

8 Comp. Luke iv. 26. with Jonah i. 9. 9 2 Kings xiv. 25. 

1 Comp. 2 Kings xiii. 3 — 7. with 2 Kings xiv. 26. et Joseph. 

2 2 Kings viii. 12. x. 32. xiii. 3—9. 

3 Clem. Alex. Strom, p. 390. Euseb. Prasp. lib. x. c. xiv. p. 503. 
Cyrill. Prasf. in Jon. p. 364. August, de Civit, Dei, lib. xviii. 
c. xxvii. Theod. Prooem. in 12 Proph. p. 699. edit. Paris, 1642. 



OF THE BOOK OF JONAH, 447 

This book, which is chiefly narrative, presents us 
with an account of the mandate that Jonah, who was 
more especially a prophet to the Gentiles, received to 
preach against Nineveh, the metropolis of that mighty 
kingdom of Assyria, which was employed by God as 
the " rod of his anger against Israel and Judah V It 
relates that Jonah, who was of a timid character 5 , 
aware of the pride and false confidence of a city, equally 
distinguished for its magnificence and corruption, for 
its careless merriment, and licentious dissipation 6 , and 
conscious that the Lord was " slow to anger," and loth 
to execute his threats, was afraid to carry the message 
of wrath. He knew that the Prophets were exposed 
to insult from such as confidently maintained that the 
day of the Lord would not arrive ; and who challenged 
God to hasten his word 7 . He resolved, therefore, " to 
flee from the presence of the Lord," that is, possibly, 
as some have interpreted the expression, to flee from 
that impulse which wrought as he might think only in 
the land of Israel ; and thus avoid the Divine appoint- 
ment ; but in this foolish attempt in his flight to Tar- 
shish 8 , which he records with a very ingenuous and 

4 Isaiah x. 5. 

5 Jonah, or Jonas, as it is written in the Greek, signifies a dove, a 
name probably descriptive of his character and disposition. 

6 By Zephaniah it is called the rejoicing city, Kpdacruv Nwov 
eiKbpaivovariQ (better than joyous Nineveh) was a proverbial com- 
parison. Nineveh was much greater than Babylon. Vid. Strabo, 
lib. xvi. p. 1470. edit. Oxon. 1807. Diodor. Siculus, lib. ii. cap. iii. 
p. 113. edit. Wesseling, 1745. 

7 Amos v. 18. Isa. v. 19. Jerem. xvii. 15. 

8 Drusius Animad. lib. i. c. 57. The Tarshish here mentioned 
was probably the same place with Tarsis, or Tarsus, the capital of 
Cilicia, where St. Paul was born ; and Jonah might be cast on shore 



448 OF THE BOOK OF JONAH. 

repentant fidelity, he was arrested and punished by a 
miracle ; and when delivered from the jaws of destruc- 
tion, he was compelled to utter the doleful message, 
" Yet forty days, and Nineveh" (if it continue impeni- 
tent) " shall be overthrown." The king, who, accord- 
ing to Usher, was Pul, or possibly a predecessor of that 
monarch, alarmed at the prophetic threat conveyed to 
him under such miraculous circumstances, proclaimed 
a solemn fast and supplication for pardon 9 ; and as 
God's denunciations are conditional, and his anger ever 
softened by repentance, he suspended the sentence 
which he had pronounced, till about 160 years after, 
when the wickedness of the people provoked its exe- 
cution. The last chapter represents the unreasonable 
displeasure of Jonah at God's mercy, unmindful of the 
deliverance which he himself had so recently expe- 
rienced, and his mortification at having been employed to 
deliver a prediction which was not to be accomplished ; 
more solicitous for his own reputation than for the 
glory of God, or for the security of a kingdom. The 
Almighty is described as condescending gently to re- 
prove the Prophet ; and to vindicate his own conduct by 
a miraculous illustration, and by an appeal to the com- 
passion of the Prophet, which Jonah records with a 
tacit admission of the equity and goodness of God. 
It must be remarked, that the miracle by which 

somewhere on the coast of Cilicia. There were likewise places of 
the name of Tarshish in India and in Spain. Vid. 2 Chron. xx. 36. 
Bochart, Geog. Sac. lib. iv. c. xx. p. 281. edit. Cadomi. 1646. 
Stephanus de Urbibus, and Wells's Geograph. of New Test, part ii. 
p. 36. 

9 Usser. Annal. a.m. 3233. Lloyd's Tables. Newton on the 
Prophecies, Diss. ix. vol. i. p. 256. 



OF THE BOOK OF JONAH. 449 

God punished the unbecoming flight of Jonah, was, 
agreeably to the figurative arrangements of the Old 
Testament, rendered symbolical of an event that was to 
occur under the New. The Prophet, in this instance a 
sign of Christ \ was swallowed up by a great fish 2 , as 
our Saviour was admitted into the jaws of death ; and 
for a similar continuance of time, since both were de- 
tained three days and three nights 3 , and neither of 
them was suffered to see corruption 4 . The objections 
which have been made to this miracle are certainly 
unworthy of attention 5 , since considerations of what 
may, or may not be probable, are clearly not applicable 

1 Matt. xii. 39, 40. xvi. 4. Luke xi. 29, 30. August, de Civit. 
Dei, lib. xviii. c. xxx. 

2 The fish is generally supposed to have been a whale. The word 
used by the Evangelist, (Matt. xii. 40.) k-//-oc, Cetus, means any 
large fish, as does the Hebrew in Jonah, ^i"U 3*1, Daga Gadol. Some 
suppose it to have been the Canis Charcarias, the lamia, or sea-dog. 
The Rabbins talk of a fish created on purpose from the beginning of 
the world ; and many other absurd notions have been entertained 
on the subject. Yid. Scaliger cont. Cardan. Bochart. Hieroz. p. 2. 
lib. v. c. xii. p. 742. edit. Lond. 1663. Dionys. Periegesis, v. 603. 
ch. i. 17. Calmet's Dissert. 

3 As the Hebrew language has not any word which defines a 
natural day, the Jews describe what the Greeks call vv^dyjfjepov, by 
a night and a day. The space of time, therefore, which consists of 
one whole revolution of twenty-four hours, and part of two other 
days, is properly expressed in Hebrew by three days and three 
nights ; the length of time during which Jonah and Christ were re- 
spectively sepulchred in the fish and in the grave. Vid. Lowth in 
ch. i. 17. Hosea vi. 2. 

4 Ch. ii. 6. comp. with Psalm xvi. 10. and Acts ii. 31. 

5 Herman Von-der Hardt absurdly undertook to turn the whole 
book into a kind of prophetic scheme or parable, though there is not 
a shadow of reason to suppose it any other than a literal narration of 
actual events. Vid. Carpzov. Introd. ad lib. V. T. par. iii. p. 349. 



450 OF THE BOOK OF JONAH. 

to works which exceed the measure of human power, 
and deviate from the course of human events, and 
which, indeed, are described as unprecedented. The 
miraculous preservation and deliverance of Jonah was 
surely not more remarkable or descriptive of Almighty 
power, than were the multiplied wonders in the wilder- 
ness 6 , the protection of Daniel, or the resurrection of 
the son of the widow of Zarephath ; all of which were 
positive violations of the general rules of nature. 

Among other testimonies given to the prophetic 
character of Jonah, may be reckoned that of Tobit, 
who professed a firm confidence in the accomplishment 
of Jonah's prediction against Nineveh 7 , and whose son, 
indeed, afterwards lived to witness its completion. The 
sacred writers, likewise, and our Lord himself 8 , speak 
of him as a Prophet of considerable eminence. 

As the word with which this book begins is frequently 
used as a connexive particle, some writers have con- 
ceived that these prophecies are but compendious ex- 
tracts from a larger collection ; but the book appears, 
in its present state, to be an entire and perfect work ; 
and the particle with which it begins is only a common 
introductory letter, which converts the future into the 
perfect or past tense. True it is, that Jonah, as pro- 
bably all the Prophets, delivered some prophecies, 
which are no longer extant ; as appears from the pas- 

6 " Quod aut omnia divina miracula credenda non sint, aut hoc 
cur non credatur causa nulla sit." Vid. August, epist. cii. in Qusest. 
6. de Jona, n. 30. torn. p. 284. 

7 Tobit xiv. 4—6.15. 

8 2 Kings xiv. 25. Matt. xii. 39. 41. xvi. 4. Luke xi. 29. Vid. 
also, 2 Esdras i. 39. and Clement. Epist. i. ad Corinth, c. vii. p. 33. 
edit. Wotton. 



OF THE BOOK OF JONAH. 451 

sage in the Second Book of Kings, before alluded to 9 ; 
and these, as intended by their speedy completion only 
to excite the confidence of contemporaries, were pro- 
bably not committed to writing: such chiefly being 
composed for the canon as were designed for the per- 
manent instruction of the church. There is not, how- 
ever, any sufficient evidence to prove the authenticity 
of some other predictions ascribed to Jonah by Doro- 
theus and others ] : as that " when they should see a 
stone" (i.e. Christ, the corner-stone) "bitterly lament- 
ing, and all the nations in Jerusalem, then should the 
city be entirely destroyed ;" which pretended prophecy 
is supposed to have alluded to our Saviour's weeping 
over Jerusalem 2 , and to the assemblage of the Gentiles, 
which preceded the destruction of the holy city. 

The style of Jonah is narrative and simple ; and the 
beautiful prayer contained in the second chapter has 
been justly admired. The book presents us with a fine 
description of the power and mercies of God. The 
record of the repentance of Nineveh, at the preaching 
of one Prophet, was calculated to afford strong reproof 
to the Jews, and our Saviour declares that the men of 
Nineveh should rise up in judgment at the last day, 
against the generation which he addressed 3 . 

The fame of Jonah's deliverance appears to have 
spread among the heathen nations ; Mahomet, in more 
than one instance, alludes to the mission and miraculous 
circumstances of the history of Jonah 4 ; and the Greeks, 

9 2 Kings xiv. 25. 

1 Epiphan. Doroth. et Chron. Pascal. 

2 Luke xix. 41. 

3 Ch. iii. 5. Matt. xii. 41. Luke xi. 32. 

4 Sale's Koran, ch. x. p. 174. ch. xxi. p. 272. ch. xxxvii. p. 370, 

Gg2 



452 OF THE BOOK OF JONAH. 

who were accustomed to adorn the memory of their 
heroes by every remarkable event and embellishment 
which they could appropriate, added to the fictitious 
adventures of Hercules, that of having continued three 
days without injury in the belly of a dog sent against 
him by Neptune 5 . The fable of Arion and the Dol- 
phin, of which the date is fixed at a time nearly coeval 
with the period of Jonah, is possibly a representation of 
particulars recorded in this sacred book. 

ch. lxviii. p. 462. edit. London, 1734. and Hottinger Histor. Oriental, 
lib. i. c. iii. p. 76, 77. 

5 Lycophron et Isaacus Tzetzes, Cyrill. et Theophylact. in Jon. 
Sext. Emp. adv. Gram. lib. i. cap. xii. Phavorinus in Tpii(nr£poQ, et 
Gazseus in Dialog, de Immort. Anim. Biblioth. Patrurn, torn. ii. p. 
394. 



OF THE 



BOOK OF THE PROPHET 
MICA H. 



Micah was unquestionably the author of this book, and 
lie speaks in that character 1 . In the Hebrew manu- 
scripts he is placed the sixth, and in the Septuagint 
copies the third, in order of the Twelve Prophets. He 
calls himself a Morasthite 2 , and is supposed to have 
been a native of Morasthi, a village situated near the 
city of Eleutheropolis, in the southern part of Judah ; 
a place distinguished by St. Jerom 3 from Mareshah, 
mentioned in this book 4 , and in Joshua 5 , 

Micah speaks only of the kings of Judah ; and he 
prophesied in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Heze- 
kiah, contemporary with whom were Pekah and Hosea, 

1 Ch. iii. 1. 8. 2 Ch. i. 1. Jerem. xxvi. 18. 

3 Hieron. Prol. in Micah. Epitaph. Paul. c. vi. et de Locis Ebraicis. 
Drusius erroneously imagines that Morasthi might be the same place 
with Moresheth-gath, mentioned in Micah, ch. i. 14. 

4 Ch. i. 15. 

5 Josh. xv. 44. St. Jerom, however, places this town likewise in 
the territory of Judah, and says, that the ruins of it were extant in 
his time. Josephus represented it to have been in Idumaea. Vid. 
Joseph, de Bell. Jud. lib. i. c. ii. p. 962. edit. Hudson. 2 Chron. 
xi. 8. xiv. 10. 



454 OF THE BOOK OF MICAH. 

the two last kings of Israel. Micah then began to pro- 
phecy soon after Isaiah, Hosea, Joel, and Amos ; and 
he prophesied between a.m. 3246, when Jotham began 
to reign, and a.m. 3305, when Hezekiah died ; but pro- 
bably not during the whole of that period. It is related 
by Epiphanius 6 , and the Greek writers who copied 
him, that Micah was thrown from a precipice and killed 
by Joram, son of Ahab, whom he erroneously calls king 
of Judah, but who really was king of Israel ; and whose 
grandson Jehoram lived at least 1 30 years before Micah. 
But these writers 7 seem to have confounded Micah 
with Micaiah, the son of Imlah, who flourished in Is- 
rael, and prophesied evil of Ahab 8 ; and Micah does 
not appear to have suffered martyrdom, as may be col- 
lected from a passage in Jeremiah 9 ; but probably died 
in peace under the reign of the good king Hezekiah. 
St. Jerom says, that his tomb was at Morasthi, and 
converted into a church in his time \ And Sozomen 2 , 
adopting a popular superstition, professes to have heard, 
that his body was shown, in a Divine vision, to Ze- 
bennus, bishop of Eleutheropolis, in the reign of Theo- 
dosius the Great, near a place called Berathsatia, which 
probably might be a corruption of Morasthi, since 
Sozomen describes it to have been at nearly the same 
distance from Jerusalem as that at which St. Jerom 
places Morasthi 3 . 

6 Epiphanius erroneously calls him a Morasthite of the tribe of 
Ephraim ; and says, that he was buried at Marathi. 

7 Athan. in Synop. Euseb. Chron. 

8 1 Kings xxii. 8—28. 9 Jerem. xxvi. 18, 19. 

1 Hieron. Epist. xxvii. seu Epitaph. Paul. c. vi. 

2 Sozorn. Hist. Eccles. lib. vii. c. xxix. p. 76. edit. Antverp. 1578. 

3 About ten stadia, which answers nearly to the two miles of St. 
Jerom. Some place Micah's tomb on the declivity of Mount Olivet. 

7 



OF THE BOOK OF MICAH. 455 

Micah, who received the Divine revelations by vision 4 , 
was appointed to preach against both Israel and Judah ; 
and executed his commission with great animation and 
zeal. One of his predictions is related 5 to have saved 
the life of Jeremiah ; who, under the reign of Jehoia- 
kim, would have been put to death for prophesying the 
destruction of the temple, had it not appeared that 
Micah had foretold the same thing under Hezekiah, 
above 100 years before 6 . Micah, indeed, is mentioned 
as a prophet in the Book of Jeremiah, as having fore- 
told this event, and likewise " that Jerusalem should 
become heaps 7 ;" he is appealed to, also, as a prophet 
in the New Testament 8 . He is likewise imitated by 
succeeding prophets 9 , as he himself had borrowed the 
expressions of those who preceded, or lived at the same 
time with himself l . Our Saviour, indeed, conde- 
scended to speak in the language of the prophet 2 . 

Dr. Wells 3 supposes Micah's prophecies to have been 
uttered in the order in which they are here written. 
He maintains that the contents of the first chapter were 
delivered in the time of Jotham and Pekah ; and that 

4 " The word of the Lord came to him." Vid. Maimon. More 
Nevoch. pars ii. c. 41. 

5 Jerem. xxvi. 18 — 24. 

6 Joseph. Antiq. lib. x. c. vi. p. 443. Micah iii. 12. 

7 Jerem. xxvi. 18. comp. with Micah iii. 12. 

8 Matt. ii. 5. and John vii. 42. 

9 Compare Zephaniah iii. 19. with Micah iv. 7. And Ezek. xxii. 
27. with Micah iii. 11. 

1 Compare Micah iv. 1 — 3. and Isaiah ii. 2 — 4. Micah iv. 13. 
with Isaiah xli. 15. Micah began to prophesy rather later than 
Isaiah. > 

2 Comp. Micah vii. 6. with Matt. x. 35, 36. 

3 Preface to Micah. 



456 OF THE BOOK OF MICAH. 

it consists of general invective against the sins and 
idolatry of Israel and Judah, to be punished by impend- 
ing judgments. What is comprised between the first 
verse of the second chapter and the eighth verse of 
the fourth he assigns to the reign of Ahaz, and his 
contemporaries Pekah and Hosea ; and the twelfth 
verse of the third chapter, which is attributed by Jere- 
miah to the reign of Hezekiah \ Wells conceives to 
have been spoken in the year when Hezekiah was 
partner in the kingdom with Ahaz, in the last year of 
the reign of the latter ; and the remainder of the book 
the learned commentator assigns to the reign of Heze- 
kiah. But at whatever period these prophecies were 
delivered, they contain many remarkable particulars. 
The prophet predicted, in clear terms, the invasion of 
Shalmanezer 2 and that of Sennacherib 3 , and their 
triumphs over Israel and Judah ; the captivities, disper- 
sion 4 , and deliverance 5 of Israel ; the cessation of pro- 
phecy 6 ; the destruction of Assyria, the representative 
of the enemies of the Christian church 7 ; the birth of a 
ruler at Bethlehem Ephratah, " whose goings forth 
have been from of old, from everlasting 8 ;" yet who 
should be smitten 9 ; the establishment and exaltation of 
Christ's kingdom over all nations 10 ; the promulgation 



1 Jerem. xxvi. 18, 19. 

2 Chap. i. 6—8. and 2 Kings xvii. 4. 6. 



3 Chap. i. 9—16. 2 Kings xviii. 13. 

4 Ch. v. 7, 8. 5 Ch. ii. 12. iv. 10. v. 8. 6 Ch. iii. 6, 7. 

7 Chap. vii. 8. 10. Mede's Discourses. 

8 Micah v. 2. comp. with Matt. ii. 6. and John vii. 42. 

9 Chap. v. 1. comp. with Lament, iii. 30. Zech. xiii. 7. and Matt, 
xxvi. 31. 

10 Chap. iv. 1.2. 7. and Luke i. 33. See also v. 5. comp. with 
Ephes. ii. 14. vii. 20. with Luke i. 73. 



OF THE BOOK OF MICAH. 457 

of the Gospel from Mount Zion, with its beneficial 
effects ] ; and the utter destruction of Jerusalem 2 . 

The force and beauty of Micah's style have been 
much admired. Bishop Lowth has characterized it as 
compressed, short, nervous, and sharp. It is often ele- 
vated, and very poetical, though occasionally obscure 
from sudden transition of subject. 

Micah, after pointing out the insufficiency of sacri- 
fices, of " thousands of rams, or ten thousands of rivers 
of oil," and after intimating, with reference to a greater 
atonement, that if he were " to give his first-born for 
his transgression, and the fruit of his body for the sin 
of his soul," it would be of no avail ; observes that God 
hath showed what is good for man, and that the Lord 
requireth of him " to do justly, and to love mercy, and 
to walk humbly with his God 3 ;" and he concludes his 
book with a fine prophetic assurance of God's mercies, 
who should cast away the sins of his people, and perform 
the promises which he had sworn unto Abraham. 

1 Chap. iv. 1 — 8. comp. with Isaiah ii. 2 — 4. 

2 Chap. iii. 12. This prophecy was fulfilled in the destruction 
of Jerusalem by Vespasian, when, according to Christ's prediction, 
not one stone was left upon another. Vid. Joseph. Bell. Jud. lib. vi. 
c. ix. p. 1290. et lib. vii. c. i. 

3 Chap. vi. 8. 



OF THE 



BOOK OF THE PROPHET 
NAHUM. 



Nahum describes himself as an Elkoshite : which some 
have considered as a patronymic expression, conceiving 
it to imply his being a descendant of Elkosha; but 
which is generally supposed to intimate that he was 
born at Elkosh, or Elkosha, a small village in Galilee, 
of which St. Jerom professes to have seen the ruins K 
Nahum is said to have been of the tribe of Simeon 2 ; 
but amidst a variety of opinions, it is difficult to deter- 
mine what precise time should be assigned for the 
period of his existence. Josephus 3 asserts, that he 
lived in the time of Jotham, king of Judah : in which 
case he may be supposed to have prophesied against 
Nineveh, when Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, carried 

1 Epiphanius and Dorotheus place it near Begabar or Bethabara, 
where St. John baptized his disciples. But St. Jerom represents it 
as at a great distance from that town. He says that it was called 
Helkesai. It is not mentioned in Scripture, or by Josephus. 

2 He was probably in Judah when he received Divine revelations. 
Bethabara was far from the territory of Simeon. 

3 Joseph. Antiq. lib. ix. cap. xi. p. 422. edit. Hudson. Josephus 
says, also, that Nahum's predictions concerning Nineveh came to pass 



OF THE BOOK OF NAHUM. 459 

away captive the natives of Galilee, and of other parts 4 ; 
about a.m. 3264. The Jews place him so late as the 
reign of Manasseth 5 . The most probable opinion is, 
that though Nahum might have lived in the reigns of 
both these kings, yet that he delivered these prophecies 
in Judaea in the reign of Hezekiah 6 ; for he appears to 
speak of the taking of No-Ammon, a city of Egypt 7 , 
and of the insolent messengers of Sennacherib 8 , as of 
things past ; he likewise describes the people of Judah 
as still in their own country, and desirous of celebrating 
their festivals. He cannot, therefore, be supposed to 
have prophesied before the fourteenth year of Heze- 
kiah, since the expedition of Sennacherib against this 
prince was in the fourteenth year of Hezekiah's reign ; 
and, therefore, he probably prophesied between a.m. 
3283, when Shalmaneser carried Israel captive into 
Assyria 9 ; and a.m. 3294, when Sennacherib was medi- 
tating the destruction of Jerusalem. 

At this period of perplexity and distress, when the 



in 115 years after ; in which case the prophet must have delivered 
them in the reign of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, when Shalmaneser in- 
vaded Samaria, and rendered it tributary. 

4 2 Kings xv. 29. 

5 Seder Olam, Grot. Sixt. Senens, &c. Clemens Alexandrinus 
places Nahum between Daniel and Ezekiel, and supposes him to have 
flourished during the captivity. Vid. Strom, i. p. 392. 

6 Ilieron. Theodor. Arguim et Theophyl. Procem. in Nahum. 

7 Chap. iii. 8. This city is called, also, Diospolis, and was the 
same place that was styled Thebes by Homer. It was probably first 
taken by Sennacherib, in his expedition to Egypt, before he marched 
to Jerusalem. Vid. Calmet in loc. Prid. Con. an. 713. It was 
afterwards destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. 

8 Ch. ii. 13. comp. with 2 Kings xviii. 17. et set. 

9 2 Kings xvii. 6. Nahum ii. 2. 



460 OF THE BOOK OF NAHUM. 

fate of Samaria was present to the apprehensions of 
Judah ; when her own cities had been taken by Sen- 
nacherib, and Hezekiah had drained his treasury, and 
even despoiled the temple in the vain hope of averting 
the fury of Sennacherib l ; then was Nahum raised up 
in consolation 2 to Judah, and to proclaim destruction 
"to him that imagined evil against the Lord 3 ." At 
this time Sennacherib still continued to send arrogant 
messages, and blasphemous letters : threatening the 
destruction of Jerusalem ; insulting Hezekiah, and de- 
riding the confidence of his people, who trusted in the 
Lord 4 . Already had Isaiah been commissioned to send 
an assurance of protection to Jerusalem 5 ; and Nahum 
conspired with him to promise deliverance to Hezekiah 6 
from the Assyrian yoke ; and even to anticipate, with 
prophetic exultation, and with reference to more glo- 
rious times, the appearance of welcome messengers in 
the distant scene, that should bring good tidings, and 
publish peace to Judah ; who should celebrate her 
solemn feasts secure from invasion, as her enemy was 
"utterly cut off 7 ." 

Nahum afterwards, in his two last chapters, proceeds 
to foretel the future downfal of the Assyrian empire ; 
renewing those denunciations of wrath which, about 
ninety years before, Jonah had uttered against Nineveh, 

1 2 Kings xviii. 16. 

2 Nahum signifies a comforter. Vid. Hieron. 3 Ch. i. 11. 

4 2 Kings xviii. and xix. 2 Chron. xxxii. Isaiah xxxvi. Nahum 
i. 7. comp. with Isa. xxxvi. 15. 

5 2 Kings xix. 20—34. 6 Ch. i. 13. 

7 Nahum i. 13. 1 Kings xix. 35. Isa. xxxvii. 36, 37. Rom. 
x. 15. Herodotus and Berosus give disguised accounts of the mi- 
raculous destruction of Sennacherib's army. Vid. Herod, lib. ii. 
c. cxli. Berosus ap. Joseph. Antiq. lib. x. c. i. ii. 



OF THE BOOK OF NAHUM. 461 

but which had been suspended in consideration of the 
contrition of the city ; this contrition, however, was 
but of short duration ; and the Prophet predicts, there- 
fore, in the most descriptive manner, its final destruc- 
tion, which was effected probably by Nabopalasser and 
Cyaxares, a.m. 3362 s , but certainly by the Medes and 
Babylonians, after having existed above thirteen cen- 
turies, whose confederate forces assaulted the Assyrians 
unexpectedly, " while they were folden together as 
thorns, and while they were drunken as drunkards 9 ." 
" The gates of the river were then opened, and the 
palace dissolved 1 ," and an over-running flood assisted 
the conquerors in their devastation 2 ; who took an 
endless store of spoil of silver and of gold 3 , making an 
utter end of the place of Nineveh 4 ; of that vast and 
populous city, w T hose walls were an hundred feet high 5 
and capable of admitting three chariots abreast upon 

8 Diodorus Siculus speaks of the taking of Nineveh by Arbaces 
and Belesis ; which must have happened at a preceding time. He- 
rodotus, however, asserts, that it was taken by Cyaxares ; and since 
the account of Diodorus minutely corresponds with the prophetic 
description of Nahum, it is probable that the historian confounds the 
two captures, as he mistakes the situation of Nineveh, supposing it 
to be on the Euphrates. Usher places the final destruction of 
Nineveh fourteen years earlier than Prideaux, who assigns it to a.m. 
3392. Diod. Sic. lib. ii. p. 140. edit. Wetsten. Herod, lib. i. c. xvi. 
p. 53. edit, Wesseling. Marsham's Chron. Saec. xviii. p. 598. 

9 Ch. i. 10. l Ch. ii. 6. 

2 Ch. i. 8. Diodor. Sic. lib. ii. p. 140. edit. Wetsten. Alex. Poly- 
hist. ap. Syncel. 

3 Nahum ii. 9. and Diod. lib. ii. p. 81. 

4 Ch. i. 8, 9. and Newton's ninth Dissertation on Prophecies, 
vol. i. 

5 Diod. Sic. lib. ii. p. 65. edit. Stephan. Strabo, lib. xvi. p. 737. 
ed. Par. 



462 OF THE BOOK OF NAHUM. 

them, and fortified with fifteen hundred towers, two 
hundred feet in height. So totally, indeed, was this 
city destroyed, that in the second century after Christ, 
not a vestige of it remained to ascertain the spot on 
which it stood 7 . Its situation has long been a matter 
of uncertainty and dispute 8 . 

This illustrious prophecy thus remarkably accom- 
plished in little more than a century after it was de- 
livered, affords a signal evidence of the inspiration of 
Nahum ; and a striking lesson of humility to human 
pride. It must have imparted much consolation to the 
tribes who were carried away captive by the King of 
Assyria, as well as to those of Benjamin and Judah ; 
and all must have rejoiced in the hope of deliverance, 
to hear that their conquerors should in time be con- 
quered, their city levelled to the dust, and their empire 
overturned. Passages in the book appear to Jbe cited 
or referred to by the sacred writers of the New Testa- 
ment 9 . 

The work is considered by Bishop Lowth as a com- 
plete and perfect poem, of which the conduct and 

7 Lucian Dial. Mort. Charon, i. 521. ed. 1743. Lucian was a 
native of Samosata, a city on the Euphrates, in a country adjacent to 
Nineveh. 

8 Bochart. Phaleg. lib. iv. cap. xx. p. 284. edit. Cadomi. Mar- 
shami Chronic. Saec. xviii. p. 598. The best supported opinions 
concur to place the ancient Nineveh (for some supposed there were 
two, and some three cities of that name) on the Tigris. Herod, 
lib. ii. c. cl. p. 178. There are ruins on the eastern side of the 
river, said to be those of Nineveh. Tavernier in Harris, vol. ii. 
book ii. c. iv. Probably they are the ruins of the Persian Nineveh. 
Plin.lib. vi. c. 13. p. 311. 

9 Comp. Nahum i. 15. with Romans x. 15. and Nahum iii. 4. 
with Revel, xvii. 1. 



OF THE BOOK OF NAHUM. 463 

imagery are truly admirable. The fire, spirit, and 
sublimity of Nahum, are unequalled. His scenes are 
painted with great variety and splendour. The exor- 
dium of his work, in which he describes the attributes 
of God, is august ; and the preparations for the attack, 
as well as the destruction of Nineveh, are represented 
with singular effect ! . The art with which the circum- 
stances of the immediate destruction of the Assyrians 
under Sennacherib are intermingled with those of the 
future ruin of the empire, affords a very interesting 
specimen of the manner in which the Prophets delight 
to introduce present and distant events under one point 
of view. The allegorical pictures in this book are re- 
markably beautiful 2 . 

Neither history or tradition afford us any account of 
Nahum, or of the period of his death. His tomb, or 
pretended tomb, was formerly shown in a village named 
Bethogabra, now called Giblin, near Emmaus. 

1 Lowth's Praelect. 21. 2 Chap. ii. 7. 11, 12. 



OF THE 



BOOK OF THE PROPHET 
HABAKKUK. 



Some writers, whose relations are probably founded on 
traditionary accounts, describe Habakkuk as a native 
of Bethzakar * ; and affirm that he was of the tribe of 
Simeon. Some suppose him to have flourished in the 
reign of Manasseth 2 ; others in that of Josiah 3 ; and 
some have placed him so late as Zedekiah 4 ; but the 
most approved opinion is, that he prophesied under 
Jehoiakim, who ascended the throne a.m. 3395, and 
reigned over Judah eleven years. 

As the Prophet makes no mention of the Assyrians, 
and speaks of the Chaldean invasions as near at hand 5 , 

1 Epiphanius calls it Bethsocher ; Dorotheas, Biticuchar ; Beth- 
zacharias is mentioned in 1 Mace. vi. 32. ; this was between Jerusa- 
lem and Bethsura ; and Josephus describes it as a narrow defile. 
Vid. Joseph, de Bel. Jud. lib. i. c. i. p. 959. Bezeth is spoken of 
in 1 Mace. vii. 19. 

2 Sedar Olam Rabba, and Zuta. Abarben. Joseph. Antiq. lib. x. 
c. iv. 

3 Wells, Patrick, &c. 

4 Clem. Alex. Strom, lib. i. p. 391. edit. Potter. Epiphan. &c. 

5 Chap. i. 5. ii. 3. iii. 2. 16—19. 



OF THE BOOK OF HABAKKUK. 465 

he probably lived after the destruction of the Assyrian 
empire in the fall of Nineveh, a.m. 3392, and not long 
before the devastation of Judaea by the victories of 
Nebuchadnezzar. Habakkuk then was nearly contem- 
porary with, and predicted the same events as Jeremiah ; 
and he probably lived to witness the completion of that 
part of his prophecy w 7 hich related to the afflictions of 
his country. 

Habakkuk is said, as well as Jeremiah, to have 
chosen to remain amidst the sad scenes of a desolate 
and deserted land, rather than follow his conquered 
countrymen into captivity, and even to have refused to 
accompany those who afterwards retired into Egypt. 
There are no proofs, however, that, as some writers 6 
have asserted, he lived till within tw T o years of the 
return of the Jews under Zerubbabel, which happened 
a.m. 346*8 ; he appears to have died in his own country, 
and possibly he was buried at Cela, in the territory of 
Judah, where his tomb was shown in the time of 
Eusebius 7 . 

It must be observed, that some Jews have, on very 
chimerical ground, pretended that our Prophet was the 
son of the Shunamite widow whom Elisha restored to 
life 8 ; and the w r retched biographers of the Prophets 

6 Hieron. Prolog, in Habac. 

7 Eusebius calls it by its old name Ceila, which is, perhaps, the 
same place with Echela and Betzekar. Sozomen states, with some 
superstitious additions, that Habakkuk's body was discovered there 
in the time of Theodosius the Elder. Vid. Sozom. Hist. Eccles. 
lib. vii. c. xxix. The Prophet's tomb was shown also at Gabata, 
about eleven miles from Eleutheropolis. 

8 2 Kings iv. 16. The name of Habakkuk had some resemblance 
with the words of Elisha, who pronounced to the woman (" thou 
shalt embrace a son") 

Hh 



466 OF THE BOOK OF HABAKKUK. 

who wrote under the names of Epiphanius and Doro- 
theus relate, that on the approach of Nebuchadnezzar 
to Jerusalem, the Prophet fled to Ostracina, in the land 
of Ismael, and there continued till after the retreat of 
the Chaldeans. But these writers appear, as does also 
St. Jerom, to have confounded the Prophet with the 
Habakkuk of the tribe of Levi mentioned by Daniel ; 
who is described in the Greek title to Bel and the 
Dragon, as the author of that book ; and who is there- 
in related to have been caught up at Jerusalem by an 
angel, and conveyed to Babylon, that he might afford 
food to Daniel in the lions' den ; as also to have re- 
turned in the same miraculous manner. Habakkuk is 
said likewise, upon no better authority, to have delivered 
many prophecies not contained in the book which we 
now possess ; to have predicted the return of the Jews 
from captivity; the appearance of a great light (the 
Messiah) and God's glory in the temple ; and the de- 
struction of the temple by a nation from the West (the 
Romans) ; and also to have written the story of Su- 
sanna, and that of his own conveyance to Babylon. 

This book, which was certainly composed by Habak- 
kuk 9 , opens with a pious exclamation, in which the 
Prophet expostulates with God, in the bold terms that 
a zeal for his glory might suggest, on beholding the 
iniquities and lawless violence that prevailed among 
the Jews. The Almighty is represented as declaring 
that he would " work an incredible work in their days," 
that he would " raise up the Chaldeans," who are 
described by name ; which nation, though then possibly 
in alliance, if not in friendship with Judah \ should 

9 Chap. i. 1. ii. 1, 2. 

1 2 Kings xxiii. 29. and Prid. b.c. 610. Josiah 31. 



OF THE BOOK OF HABAKKUK. 467 

" march through the breadth of the land," and take 
possession of its dwellings. 

As Nahum had before predicted the fall of the As- 
syrians, who had carried the ten tribes into captivity ; 
so Habakkuk, blending probably all the invasions of 
the Chaldeans 2 under one consideration, describes in 
the most striking manner, their victories, fierceness, 
and rapidity; and then, by a sudden transition, con- 
trasts the scene ; and points out the punishment of the 
pride of the victors, and of their false confidence in 
their gods 3 ; foreshowing, in express terms, the change 
and insanity of Nebuchadnezzar 4 . The Prophet still 
continues, with reverence for God's attributes, to plead 
the cause of his countrymen, as more righteous than 
those whom God had " established for correction," and 
to inquire why the Almighty should suffer his people 
to be drawn up " like fishes," by a nation that attri- 
buted its success to its own prowess. He is then com- 
manded to write on durable tablets, and in legible 
characters, the vision in which it is revealed to him, 
first, that the general expectation on which the living 
faith of the just was built, should surely come, though 
it must tarry the appointed time 5 ; and, secondly, the 

2 Chap. i. 5 — 10. The Chaldeans invaded Judaea three times in 
the reign of Nebuchadnezzar ; first, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, 
A.M. 3397 ; secondly, in the reign of Jechoniah, A.M. 3405 ; and 
thirdly, in the ninth year of Zedekiah, A.M. 3414. 

3 Chap. ii. 4—12. 4 Chap. i. 11. 

5 Ch. ii. 3, 4. Rom. i. 17. Heb. x. 37, 38. The evangelical 
writer cites the passage according to the Septuagint, and the original 
will admit of the same construction. Vid. Pearson's Prolegomena 
to the Septuagint. Some Greek copies read elg tcaipov fiaicpdv, " for 
a long time :" the Vulgate has it, adhuc visus procul, " the vision is 
yet afar off." Bishop Chandler is of opinion, that the third and 

Hll 2 



468 OF THE BOOK OF HABAKKUK. 

destruction of that kingdom of Babylon which had 
" spoiled many nations ;" and of those evil kings who 
gathered unto themselves all people with insatiable 
ambition, who should find that graven images could not 
profit, but "the Lord" only "in his holy temple." 

The Prophet having heard the divine promises and 
threats in fearful reverence, concludes his work with 
an enraptured prayer, in which he supplicates God to 
hasten the deliverance of his people 6 . He commemo- 
rates, in majestic language, the mercies which their 
forefathers had experienced from God when he de- 
livered them out of Egypt, and conducted them through 
the wilderness : alluding to particular circumstances 
with a desultory and irregular description, but with all 
the enthusiasm of inspired piety ; entering at once into 
the midst of the subject; representing God's descent 
from Teman 7 ; and now contemplating " the tents of 

fourth verses of the second chapter should be thus translated : " And 
at the end he shall break forth and not deceive ; though he tarry, 
expect him, because he that cometh will come ; he will not go 
beyond God's appointed time. Behold, if any man draw back, the 
soul of him (God) shall have no pleasure in him ; but the just shall 
live by faith." And the learned Bishop justifies this translation by 
a reference to the original, and to several versions. Vid. Chandler's 
Defence, ch. ii. §. i. p. 162, 163. note a. The spiritual deliverance 
included also the temporal restoration from the captivity. The Tal- 
mudists apply the prophecy to the advent of the Messiah. 

6 The ancient fathers explain this hymn and other passages as 
allusive to the Messiah ; and the Romish church has inserted into its 
offices some parts of it as applicable to Christ. Vid. Cyprian, adv. 
Jud. lib. ii. c. xxi. p. 294. edit. Par. 1726. August, de Trin. lib. 
iv. p. 576. torn. viii. edit. Antwerp, 1700. Hieron. Theodoret. Cy- 
rill. &c. Office du Vendredi Saint, Antienne de Laudes, a la Messe. 

7 Teman was a part of Seir, or Edom. Paran, according to 
Ptolemy, was a district towards the extremity of the wilderness ; a 



OF THE BOOK OF HABAKKUK. 469 

Cuslian 8 in affliction" and in terror at the approach of 
the Israelites. He finishes with a declaration of entire 
confidence in God, expressing sentiments of resignation 
which no change of circumstance should shake, and 
which should rejoice in the God of his salvation, though 
the produce of the earth and every external blessing 
should fail. 

It should seem from the title 9 prefixed, and from 
the intimation subjoined to the last verse of this prayer, 
as well as from the word Selah, which occurs three 
times in the chapter, that the prayer was set to music ; 
and perhaps performed in the service of the temple ; 
and it was possibly delivered in a kind of metre. The 
style of the whole book is poetical ; but more especially 
this beautiful and perfect ode, which is decorated with 
every kind of imagery and figurative embellishment \ 

Habakkuk sometimes adopts the expressions of 

part of it was near Kadesh. Vid. Numb. xiii. 26. and Patrick on 
Deut. xxxiii. 2. 

8 Cushan may mean Chus, or Midian, a part of Arabia Petraea, 
and of Arabia Felix. The Arabians were called Scenitae, or dwellers 
in tents. The Midianites dwelt in part of Cush. The Prophet may 
allude to the circumstances described in Exod. xv. 15. Numb. xxii. 
3. or xxxi. 2 — 11. or possibly to some later victories. Vid. Jud. 
iii. 10. vii. 1, &c. Bochart, Geogr. Sac. lib. iv. c. ii. p. 238. edit. 
Cadom. 1646. 

9 The meaning of the word Sigionoth is not known. Some sup- 
pose it to imply an instrument, some a tune. In the margin of our 
Bibles it is explained " according to the variable songs or tunes, 
called in Hebrew Shigionoth." The directions annexed to the end 
of the prayer might have been added by Josiah, if the prayer was 
written in his reign. The meaning of the word Neginoth is uncer- 
tain. Vid. title to Psalm iv. 

1 Lowth's Praelect. Poet. 21. and 28. and Green on chap. iii. 
3-10. 



470 OF THE BOOK OF HABAKKUK. 

Isaiah, he is imitated by succeeding Prophets, and is 
cited as an inspired person by the evangelical writers 2 . 

2 Hab. ii. 3, 4. comp. with Heb. x. 37, 38. Rom. i. 17. Gal. iii. 
11. Acts xiii. 41. comp. with Hab. i. 5. St. Luke, addressing him- 
self more particularly to a Grecian, cites this passage according to 
the Septuagint; Acts xiii. 41. and Pococke has shown that the 
original will admit of the Apostle's construction. Vid. Pococke in 
Porta Mosis, c. iii. He derives the word Bagojim, which we trans- 
late " among the heathen," from the word Baga, which still signifies 
in the Arabic to be " proud or scornful ;" and the word Tamah may- 
be translated, " wonder and perish." 



OF THE 



BOOK OF THE PROPHET 
ZEPHANIAH. 



The Prophet Zephaniah informs us that he was the 
son of Cushi ; and that the word of the Lord came to 
him in the days of Josiah King of Judah. He is sup- 
posed to have been of the tribe of Simeon ; and, as he 
traces back his pedigree for four generations l , he was 
probably of distinguished birth 2 ; though not of the 
royal family, as some have imagined 3 from the resem- 
blance between the names of Hezekiah and that of 
Hiskia, from whom the Prophet professes himself to 
have been a descendant ; the period which intervened 
between King Hezekiah and the time in which Zepha- 
niah nourished, being scarce sufficient to admit of three 
intermediate ancestors to the Prophet. 

Zephaniah begins with denouncing God's wrath 
against " the remnant of Baal 4 , and the name of the 

1 Some of the Jews fancied that these ancestors were all Prophets. 
Vid. Hieron. Com. in Sophon. init. 

2 Cyrill. 3 R. Aben Ezra. 

4 Baal, Vj/a, was anciently a name applied to the true God, and 
afterwards prostituted to many Pagan deities. The Baal whose 



472 OF THE BOOK OF ZEPHANIAH. 

Chemarims 5 ;" against them that worshipped the host 
of heaven, and swore by Malcham 6 ; and, therefore, 
probably, he addressed those idolatrous priests who 
were not yet extirpated by the religious zeal of Josiah 7 ; 
he foretold, also, the destruction of Nineveh, which 
happened a.m. 3392. Upon these considerations he 
may be supposed to have prophesied before the last 
reformation made by Josiah, a.m. 3381. He maybe 
conceived also to have entered on his office towards 

worship Jezebel introduced from Zidon, was, according to Mede, a 
deified King of the Phoenicians. The name was often given to the 
heavenly bodies when made the object of idolatrous worship. Hosea 
ii. 16. Vid. Selden de Diis Syriis, Syntag. ii. c. i. Mede, in Joan. 
Apocalyps. b. iii. ch. iv. p. 630. 

5 The word Chemarim is translated idolatrous priests, 2 Kings 
xxiii. 5. They were called Chemarim or Camarim, a similar name 
Avas continued among the cruel priests of Mexico to the Spanish 
conquest ; and the Jews, even to this day, call the monks canDD, 
Camarim, meaning, probably, the Priests of the Romish church, so 
described on account of their persecuting spirit. Vid. Kimchi in loc. 
and in 2 Kings xxiii. 5. Black was the customary dress of idol- 
atrous priests in many nations. Vid. Horace, lib. i. sat. viii. 1. 23, 
24. Apoll. Rhod. lib. iii. 1. 861. Apuleius, i. 10. Miles. The 
black ox, that represented Osiris among the Egyptians, was covered 
with a black silk or linen garment. Vid. Plutarch, de Isid. torn. ii. 
par. 2. p. 494. edit. Wyttenbach. Patrick in 2 Kings xxiii. 5. 

6 Ch. i. 5. signifies DD^Da (swearing) by their king, who probably 
was Moloch, the king or god of the Ammonites. Some suppose the 
Prophet to allude to Baal, a word which imports also Lord or 
Master. Malcham was the same deity with Moloch, or Melek, a 
god of the Ammonites. Some suppose him the same with Baal, as 
both words signify dominion. He was worshipped by heathens with 
human sacrifices, and the Israelites dedicated their children to his 
service by making them pass through the fire. Vid. Vossius de 
Orig. et Progres. Idololat. lib. ii. c. 5. Patrick in Levit. xviii. 21. 
and Calmet's Dissertat. sur l'ldololat. 

7 Coinp. Zeph. i. 4, 5. 9. with 2 Kings xxiii. 5, 6. 12, &c. 



OF THE BOOK OF ZEPHANIAH. 473 

the commencement of the reign of that monarch, who 
ascended the throne a.m. 3364, since he preceded 
Jeremiah, who began his prophetic ministry in the thir- 
teenth year of Josiah's reign. Epiphanius relates that 
Zephaniah was born at Mount Sarabatha, or Baratha s . 

Zephaniah and Jeremiah resemble each other so 
much in those parts where they treat of the idolatries 
and wickedness that prevailed in their time, that St. 
Tsidore asserts, that Zephaniah was the abbreviator of 
Jeremiah ; but he apparently prophesied before Jere- 
miah ; and the latter seems to speak of those abuses as 
partially removed, which the former describes as pre- 
sent in the most flagitious extent 9 . 

Zephaniah appears to have conspired with Josiah 
in his righteous design of bringing back the people to 
the worship and obedience of the true God. His first 
chapter contains a general denunciation of vengeance 
against the princes of Judah and against their city, 
where some disputed the Divine Providence l , and 
threatens punishment also to those who superstitiously 
observed the rites 2 of idolaters, or violently invaded 

8 Dorotheus calls the place Sabarthara. Zareth-sha-har is men- 
tioned in Joshua, as a mountainous place in the territory of Reuben, 
chap. xiii. 19. Zeredatha, or Sarthas, is spoken of in 2 Chron. iv. 
17. The place of Zephaniah's nativity might be Saraa, near Esh- 
thaoh, in the tribe of Simeon, with the addition of Beth, or Batha, 
which signifies a house or place of residence. 

9 Comp. Zephan. i. 4, 5. 9. with Jerem. ii. 5. 20. 32. iii. 4, 5. 
xix. 13. 

1 Chap. i. 8. 12. 

2 Chap. ii. 5 ; see also i. 9. The Chaldee Paraphrast applies this 
last verse to those who lived after the rules of the Philistines. Vid. 
Bochart. Hierozoic. lib. ii. par. 1st. c. xxxvi. p. 366. edit. Lond. If 
a superstitious practice be alluded to, it might be derived from the 



474 OF THE BOOK OF ZEPHANIAH. 

the property of others ; and he declared that " the 
great day of trouble and distress, of desolation and 
darkness," was at hand. In the second chapter, the 
prophet predicts woe to the Cherethites 3 ; the Moab- 
ites ; Ammonites ; and ^Ethiopians 4 ; and brings for- 
ward the desolation of Nineveh, in terms wonderfully 
descriptive 5 . These prophecies, excepting that relat- 
ing to Nineveh, were chiefly accomplished by the con- 
quests of Nebuchadnezzar 6 . In the third chapter, the 
prophet returns to Jerusalem, arraigns her pollutions, 
oppressions, and corruption, which should be visited in 
God's general judgments ; and concludes, as is usual 
with the Prophets, with promises of a remnant who 
should trust in the Lord's name ; of a return to his 
favour ; and of blessings partly completed by the Gos- 
pel dispensations, but finally to be accomplished in the 
universal restoration of the Jews 7 . In the second and 

blind prejudice of the Philistines, Vid. 1 Sam. v. 1 — 5. Traces 
of a similar observance may be found among other nations. Vid. 
Juven. Sat. vi. 1. 47. TibuL lib. i. eleg. ii. 1. 89, 90. Lucan, lib. 
ii. 1. 359. 

3 The Cherethites, or Cherethims, were the Philistines who bor- 
dered on the Mediterranean, called Cherethims. Ezek. xxv. 16. 
and Kprjreg, Cretans, in the Septuagint. They are supposed to have 
been a colony removed from Crete to Palestine. Vid. Lowth and 
Calmet. 

4 Chap. ii. 12. compare with Jerem. xlvi. 2. 9. Ezek. xxx. 4 — 10. 
Joseph. Antiq. lib. x. c. xi. p. 459. 

5 Chap. ii. 14. 15. Some have, without sufficient reason, ima- 
gined that this prophecy is an interpolation from Jonah ; and that 
it is alluded to in Tobit xiv. 4. 8. Vid. Whiston's Authentic Re- 
cords, vol. ii. Append, iv. 

6 Prid. Con. in 21. 31, and 32, of Nebuchadnezzar. Newton on 
the Prophecies, vol. i. ch. ix. 

7 Chap. iii. 8—20. comp. particularly iii. 10. with Acts viii. 27. 

3 



OF THE BOOK OF ZEPHANIAH. 475 

third chapters, likewise, the prophet magnifies his ex- 
pressions in speaking of temporal events to an import- 
ance which accords only with the effects produced by 
the preaching of the Gospel; in the destruction of 
idolatry, and in the calling of the Gentiles to God's 
service 8 . 

The style of Zephaniah is poetical ; but it is not dis- 
tinguished by any peculiar elegance or beauty, except 
as generally animated and impressive. 

8 Chap. ii. 11. and ch. iii. 13. with Rev. xiv. 5. 



OF THE 

BOOK OF THE PROPHET 
HAGGAI. 



Haggai is generally reputed to have been born in the 
captivity, and to have returned from Babylon with 
Zerubbabel ! . He is reckoned as the tenth in order 
among the Prophets, both in the Hebrew and Greek 
copies ; and may be considered as the first of the three 
Prophets who flourished among the Jews after their 
return to their country. He appears to have been 
raised up by God to exhort Zerubbabel 2 , and Joshua 
the high-priest, the son of Josedech, to resume the 
work of the temple ; which had been interrupted near 
fourteen years, in consequence of the intrigues of the 
Samaritans, and other obstructions excited to defeat 
the edict of Cyrus 3 . He began to prophesy in the 
second year of Darius Hystaspes, a.m. 3484, about 
fifteen years after the foundation of the temple had 
been laid 4 . The Prophets, after the captivity, some- 
Ezra ii. 2. Cyrill. adv. Julian. Epiphan. et Doroth. 

2 Ezra v. 1. 3 Ezra iv. 24. 

4 Ezra v. 1. The Darius of Haggai and Zechariah could not have 
been Darius Nothus, who did not begin to reign till above 100 years 



OF THE BOOK OF HAGGAI. 477 

times reckon by the dates of the reigns of the sove- 
reigns to whom their country was subjected. 

Haggai begins with representing to the people who 
delayed by evasive procrastinations the work of the 
temple, that they were more solicitous to build and to 
adorn their own houses, than to labour in the service 
of God. He informs them, that the scarcity and the 
unfruitful seasons which they experienced, were de- 
signed as a punishment for their selfish disregard to the 
glory of the Lord. He exhorts them to go up to the 
mountain and bring wood and build the house, and " I 
will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the 
Lord 5 ." His earnest remonstrance and exhortations 
appear to have produced their effect ; and the Prophet, 
in order to encourage those w T ho, fondly remembering 
the magnificence of that glorious structure which had 
been reared by Solomon, and who, perhaps, impressed 
with the description furnished by Ezekiel 6 , must have 
lamented the comparative inferiority of the present 

after the decree of Cyrus, and before whose time Zerubbabel and 
Joshua must have been dead, as well as all those who remembered 
the temple in its first glory. But as the second year of Darius 
Hystaspes corresponds with the seventeenth year after the return 
from the captivity, many might have at that time been living who 
remembered Solomon's temple, which was destroyed only sixty-eight 
years before ; and we may allow the temple to have been rebuilt in 
about twenty years. Vid. Joseph. Antiq. lib. xi. c. iv. p. 480. Clem. 
Alex. Strom, lib. i. p. 395. Witsius Miscel. Sac. lib. i. c. xx. Dr. 
Allix, with less reason, contends for Darius Ochus. 

5 Chap. i. 8. Jonathan, in the Chaldee Paraphrase, renders the 
passage thus—* "1DN 1p^ iTl WMtf mOtf** 1 ? 

Ut meam in ea divinitatem in gloria collocem, dicit Dominus. Vid. 
Targum seu Paraphrasis Chaldaica in Haggaeum. 

6 Ezek. xl. — xlviii. 



478 OF THE BOOK OF HAGGAI. 

building, declares to them in the name of the Lord, that 
the glory of this latter house, though it might appear as 
nothing in their eyes, yet should be greater than that 
of the former : " for thus saith the Lord of Hosts, yet 
once it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, 
and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land : and I 
will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall 
come ; and I will fill this house with glory, saith the 
Lord of Hosts 7 ," with a greater glory, — with a glory 
more apparent and manifest than was that clouded and 
symbolical representation of the Divine majesty which 
overshadowed the mercy-seat in the old temple; and 
which prefigured only that incarnate presence of the 
Messiah in whom should " dwell all the fulness of the 
Godhead bodily 8 :" that from this temple, though not 
decorated with silver and gold, there should yet appear 
the prince " of Peace 9 ." Haggai, after recapitulating 

7 Chap. ii. 6, 7. comp. with Heb. xii. 26. Hag. i. 8. Gen. xii. 
3. xlix. 10. Luke xx. 1. John xviii. 20. 

8 Coloss. ii. 9. Joseph de Voison. Procem. Pugio Fidei, p. 166. 

9 Chap. ii. 6 — 9. comp. with Isaiah ix. 6. Ephes. ii. 14. and Heb. 
xii. 26, 27. Some writers, who conceive that our Saviour did not 
appear under the second temple, but under a third, would restrict 
this magnificent prophecy to an assurance of the riches and splen- 
dour of the second temple, maintaining that mon might be trans- 
lated desirable things ; but the word, which may be a noun feminine 
in expression of excellency, has been understood by the best com- 
mentators to have an appropriate reference to the Messiah. The 
Chaldee and Vulgate render the verse in the singular number. Cer- 
tain it is, that neither Zerubbabel's nor Herod's temple, did ever 
equal that of Solomon in magnificence ; neither could any riches have 
compensated for the loss of the Divine glory, of the ark and its con- 
tents, the Urim and Thummim, the fire from heaven, and the other 
wonderful distinctions by which the first temple was characterized ; 
much less could they have rendered the glory of the latter house 



OF THE BOOK OF HAGGAI. 479 

the offences that had excited God's anger, and which 
could not be atoned for till the people should have re- 
pented of their neglect of God's service ; and after con- 
soling them with a promise of future blessings, con- 
cludes his splendid prophecies, delivered by four distinct 
revelations \ with predicting the important revolutions 
that should precede the great and final advent of the 
Messiah 2 , typically described under the name of Zerub- 
babel ; when the kingdoms of the world should become 
subject to his chosen servant 3 : a consummation fore- 
shadowed, perhaps, in the temporal commotions which 
happened before the first advent of our Saviour 4 . 

These signal predictions, which . obtained to Haggai 
the character of a Prophet 5 , were supposed by the Jews 
to refer to the time of the Messiah 6 . Some modern 
objections have, indeed, been made to the exact accom- 
plishment of that prophecy which has been applied to 
Christ; on a pretence that the temple in which our 
Saviour appeared, was not in reality a second, but a 

greater than that of the former. The solemnity, also, with which 
this prophecy is introduced, as well as the grandeur of its descrip- 
tion, are hyperbolical in the extreme, unless applied to the glorious 
presence of the Messiah. Vid. parallel text in Malac. iii. 1. Chand- 
ler's Defen. § 1. ch. ii. Newcome, &c. The fact is, that the temple 
destroyed by Vespasian, notwithstanding any addition, or alteration 
of the structure, was considered as the second temple, and is so de- 
scribed by Josephus de Bel. Jud. lib. vi. c. iv. p. 1279. 

1 They are precisely marked out. Vid. ch. i. 1. ii. 1. 10. 20. 

2 Chap. ii. 21—23. 3 Dan. ii. 44. and Rev. xi. 15. 

4 As the Babylonian commotions under Darius ; the Macedonian 
wars, and those between the successors of Alexander, or the disturb- 
ances in the Roman empire, which succeeded the death of Csesar. 
Vid. Orosius, lib. vi. c. xviii. p. 384. Biblioth. Patr. torn. v. pars 1. 

5 Ezra v. 1. vi. 14. Heb. xii. 26. 

6 Aben-Ezra ap. Degling. Obser. Sac. par. iii. Observ. 20. 



480 OF THE BOOK OF HAGGAT. 

third temple, rebuilt by Herod : but it is certain, that 
whatever alterations and additions were made by Herod 
to Zerubbabel's temple, yet it did not constitute an 
entirely new building 7 ; and the structure commenced 
by Herod, for the enlargement and increased elevation 
of the temple, was carried on as a gradual work of 
forty-six years. No nominal distinction was ever made 
between the two 8 , both being considered, in popular 
language, as the second temple ; and had the Prophet 
adopted such distinction, it must have led the Jews to 
expect a demolition of the temple, instead of serving to 
console them. It is, likewise, undeniable, that the 
Jews did, in consequence of this prophecy, expect the 
Messiah to appear in this temple 9 , till after its destruc- 
tion by Vespasian; they then applied it to a third, 
which they still expect. 

The style of Haggai is represented by the learned 
Lowth as entirely prosaic l ; but Bishop Newcome has 
given a translation of it on a persuasion that a great part 
of it admits of a metrical division 2 . Haggai, according 
to some traditionary accounts, must have been con- 
versant with metrical compositions. In some manu- 
scripts of the Septuagint, Vulgate, and other versions 
of the Psalter, titles are prefixed to the cxxxviiith, 

7 Joseph. Antiq. lib. xv. c. xi. p. 700. edit. Hudson. 

8 Joseph, de Bell. Jud. lib. i. c. xxi. Philo de Virtut. vol. ii. 
p. 574. edit. Mangey. Prid. Con. An. a.c. 534. 

9 Talm. Sanhedrin. c. xi. Rabbi Solomon. Midr. on Deut. xxxiii. 
12. Ber. Ketan. on Gen. i. par. ii. Ber. Rab. on Gen. xxvii. 27. 
Talm. Hier. Beracoth in Lightf. R. Sal. Jarchi. Book Caphtor, quoted 
by Grotius de Verit. lib. v. 

1 Praelect. Poet. 21. 

2 Newcome's attempt towards an improved version of the Twelve 
Minor Prophets. 



OF THE BOOK OF HAGGAI. 481 

cxlvith, cxlviith, and cxlviiith Psalms 3 , by which they 
are ascribed to Ha^gai and Zechariah. But as these 
titles are not in the Hebrew copies, and as the dates 
and occasion of these several psalms are in some mea- 
sure uncertain, we can place but little confidence in 
these inscriptions. It is, however, very probable, that 
these Prophets were concerned in the composition of 
some of those hymns, which were produced after the 
return from the captivity. Haggai was possibly of the 
sacerdotal descent ; and Epiphanius relates, that he was 
buried among the priests at Jerusalem. He and Ze- 
chariah are said to have been the first persons who 
sung the Hallelujah in the temple. The Rabbins re- 
port, that they were both of the great synagogue 4 , 
which they suppose to have had its origin in the time 
of Darius Hystaspes. 

3 Prol. in Bib. Max. 

4 For this reason, Isaac Abarbenel excludes them, as well as 
Malachi, from the rank of Prophets, though their books were ad- 
mitted into the canon, and they were considered as Prophets by the 
Jews. The synagogue, however, was admitted to have contained 
some persons entitled to the rank of Prophets. Vid. Maimon. 
More Nevoch. par i. c. lix. p. 101. Vid. Auctor. Beth Israel, ad 
Bava Bathra, c. i. 



1 3 



OF THE 



BOOK OF THE PROPHET 
ZECHARIAH. 



Zechariah was the son of Barachiah, and the grand- 
son of Idclo ! : the last of whom is supposed to have 
been a different person from the Iddo mentioned by 
Nehemiah as one of the priests who returned from 
Babylon under the conduct of Zerubbabel 2 ; but it is 
very possible that Zechariah might have been of the 
sacerdotal race ; and when released by the decree of 
Cyrus from the captivity, in which he probably was 
born, have been accompanied by his grandfather in the 
general restoration. No certain information, however, 

1 Chap. i. 1. Ezra v. 1. vi. 14. where son is put for descendant, 
as is usual in Scripture. Yid. Dan. v. 2. Matt. i. 1. 

2 Nehem. xii. 4. St. Jerom says, that it was not doubted that 
Iddo was the same person with the man of God who was sent to 
Jeroboam, vid. 1 Kings xiii. 1, 2. 2 Chron. xii. 15. but this was 
probably an error. It is certain, at least, that Zechariah could not 
be the grandson of a man who lived above 400 years before he began 
to prophesy. It is doubtful whether Iddo, the ancestor of Zecha- 
riah, is described in this book as a Prophet, for that title is ambi- 
guously placed in ch. i. 1. The Septuagint and Vulgate apply the 
title to Zechariah. Za%aptav tov tov Bapa^/ov, vidv 'A^w, tov 
Upo<pr]Tr)v. See Grabe's Septuagint. 



OF THE BOOK OF ZECHARIAH. 483 

can be collected concerning the time or place in which 
Zechariah was born. The accounts concerning him are 
precarious, and of little authority 3 ; we are told by 
Sozomen that his body was found with a sacerdotal 
white robe at Caphar, or Capher 4 , at the extremity of 
the territory of Eleutheropolis ; while by others we are 
informed that he was buried at Betharia, in the land of 
Noeman, about forty furlongs from Eleutheropolis 5 ; 
not to mention that, according to other accounts, his 
remains were deposited near those of Haggai at Jeru- 
salem 6 , and that his pretended tomb is still shown at 
the foot of Mount Olivet. 

But little reliance can be placed on these and similar 
representations, some, or indeed all, of which have 
confounded the Prophet with other persons mentioned 
in the scriptures. Sozomen imagined that the Prophet 
was the same person with Zechariah the son of Jebe- 
rechiah, the witness mentioned by Isaiah 7 , and who 
appears to have lived in the time of Ahaz, about a.m. 
3262. Others, by a great anachronism, make him 
coeval with Joash 8 , or Uzziah 9 . 

3 Sozomen, Nicephorus, &c. 

4 Sozomen, who relates an idle tale concerning the miraculous 
discovery of Zechariah's body, in a perfect state at Caphar, adds to 
the account, that an infant was found under the Prophet's feet, buried 
with the ornaments of royalty ; and that about the same time an 
apocryphal book was also found in which it was written that the 
favourite son of Joash died suddenly on the seventh day after that 
monarch had slain Zechariah, and that Joash, considering it as a 
judgment, ordered that his son's body should be buried with that of 
the Prophet. Sozomen, lib. ix. c. ult. Niceph. lib. xiv. c. viii. 

r> Dorotheus. 6 Epiphanius. 7 Isaiah viii. 2. 

8 2 Chron. xxiv. 21. Epiphan. &c. 9 2 Chron. xxvi. 5. 

i i 2 



484 OF THE BOOK OF ZECHARIAH. 

Zechariah l was unquestionably a contemporary with 
Haggai ; and began to prophesy two months after him, 
in the eighth month of the second year of Darius Hy- 
staspes, a. m. 3484 ; being commissioned, as well as 
Haggai, to exhort the Jews to proceed in the building 
of the temple, after the interruption which the work 
had suffered. We are informed by Ezra, that the Jews 
" prospered through the prophesying 2 ," and obeyed the 
instructions of Zechariah, who continued to prophesy 
about two years ; the last revelation of which the date 
is specified in this book, having been delivered in the 
fourth day of the ninth month of the fourth year of 
Darius Hystaspes 3 ; Zechariah, therefore, probably 
lived to witness the completion of the temple, which 
was finished in about six years ; and having contributed 
either as a priest, or a member of the great synagogue, 
as well as a Prophet, to promote the welfare and 
interests of his country, died in peace, being, it may be 
presumed, a different person from the Zacharias men- 
tioned by Christ 4 . 

3 Ch. i. 1. Ezra v. 1. vi. 14. Haggai i. 1. ? Ezra vi. 14. 

3 Ch. vii. 1. The month Chisleu corresponds with part of our 
November and December. 

4 Our Saviour, vid. Matt, xxiii. 35. imputes to the Jews the 
blood of Zacharias, the son of Barachias ; accusing them of having 
slain him between the temple and the altar. By this martyr, how- 
ever, was probably meant Zacharias, the son of Jehoiada, who is 
related, in 2 Chron. xxiv. 21, to have been slain by command of 
Joash in the court of the Lord's house. There is no account of the 
Prophet's having been killed, and in his time the temple was in 
ruins. The names are the same in the original, there being no vowel 
between the T and the 3. It is probable, therefore, that the copyists 
of St. Matthew inserted Barachiah, (perhaps first in the margin,) 
thinking that it must have been the Prophet whose writings were 



OF THE BOOK OF ZECHARIAH. 485 

Zechariah, who certainly collected his own prophecies 
into their present form 5 , is mentioned as a Prophet by 
Ezra 6 ; and is cited as an inspired writer by the sacred 
penmen of the New Testament 7 . The minute accom- 
plishment of his own illustrious prophecies bears a 
signal testimony to the truth of that infallible Spirit by 
which he was inspired. He was so distinguished for 
the peculiar excellency of his predictions, as to be styled 
the sun among the lesser Prophets ; it is, however, the 
sun sometimes obscured by clouds. The ^enigmatical 
cast of his visions, which are of difficult interpretation, 
must, indeed, be supposed necessarily to produce some 
shades. The general design of the work, however, is 
sufficiently obvious; and it is occasionally illumined 
with the brightest and most striking passages. 

Zechariah, in conformity with his first intention, 
begins with general exhortations to his countrymen: 
exciting them to repent from the evil ways of their 
fathers, to whom the Prophets had vainly addressed 
their cry ; he describes, in an interesting representation 
which he had beholden in vision, angels of the Lord 

extant. And this is confirmed, if we consider that Barachiah is 
not mentioned in the parallel passage of St. Luke. Vid. ch. xi. 51. 
And St. Jerom assures us, that in a manuscript copy of the Gospel 
of St. Matthew, used by the Nazarenes, which he obtained permis- 
sion from the inhabitants of Bercea in Syria to transcribe, it was 
written, the son of Jehoiada. Yid. Hieron. in Matt, xxiii. et de 
Script. Eccles. Josephus relates, that Zechariah, the son of Baruch, 
was slain in the temple, but this was not long before its destruction, 
and he was not a Prophet. Yid. de Bell. Jud. lib. iv. c. 5. p. 1185. 
edit. Hudson. 

5 Ch. i. 9. ii. 2. 6 Ezra v. 1. vi. 14. 

7 Matt. xxi. 4, 5. xxvi. 31. xxvii. 9. Mark xiv. 27. John xiv. 
15. xix. 37. Ephes. iv. 25. Rev. i. 7. and the marginal references 
in our Bible. 



486 OF THE BOOK OF ZECHARIAH. 

ministering to his will, and the angel of the covenant 
interceding for mercy on Jerusalem, and the desolate 
cities of Judaea, which had experienced God's indig- 
nation seventy years 8 ; while other nations connected 
with Judah were in peace. He announces God's dis- 
pleasure against the heathens who " had helped forward 
the affliction" of the Jews, by endeavours to impede 
the building of the temple ; and declares, that the 
house of the Lord should be built in Jerusalem, and 
Zion be comforted 9 . The Prophet then proceeds figu- 
ratively to represent the increase and prosperity of the 
Jews l : promising that God should be unto them " a 
wall of fire ;" that he should be the glory in the midst 
of them, and the nations to be converted to his ser- 
vice 2 ; that the high-priest should be restored with his 
former splendour in the person of Joshua ; who is 
declared to be the type 3 of that spiritual servant of the 
Lord, who should be called " the branch 4 ," become the 

8 Ch. i. 12. Zechariah reckons these seventy years from the 
besieging of Jerusalem in the ninth year of the reign of Zedekiah, 
and the tenth month, for which a solemn fast was kept by the Jews. 
Comp. 2 Kings xxv. 1. with Zech. viii. 19. this ends in the second 
year of Darius. If we reckon from the destruction of Jerusalem in 
the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the seventy years will be completed 
in the fourth year of Darius. See Zech. vii. 1. 5. Prid. An. a. c. 
518. 

9 Ch. i. 16, 17. 

1 Ch. ii. 4. comp. with Joseph, de Bello Jud. lib. v. c. 4. sect. 2. 
Vitringa, &c. 

2 Ch. ii. 10 — 13. comp. with John i. 14. Rev. xxi. 13- 

3 Ch. iii. 8. The word D31D signifies a wonder, or a type. Vid. 
Isa. xx. 3. Ezek. xii. 7. xxiv. 24. Chand. Def. ch. iii. § 1. 4. 

4 Ch. iii. 8, 9. A title of the Messiah, as descending from the 
stock of David. Vid. Isa. iv. 2. Jerem. xxiii. 5. The Chaldee 
Paraphrast applies these texts to Christ, who is eminently called 



OF THE BOOK OF ZECHARIAH. 487 

chief corner-stone of his church, and remove the ini- 
quity of the land, and the success of whose government 
is foreshown under the promised completion of Zerub- 
babel's designs 5 . The Prophet then interweaves in his 
discourse some instructive admonitions : he unfolds the 
ample roll of God's judgment against theft and perjury, 
and such other prevailing wickedness 6 , as had provoked 
the former vengeance of the Almighty. He emblema- 
tically pourtrays the four successive empires that had 
been, or should be employed as ministers of wrath 7 ; 
and is empowered to foretel the establishment of the 
Jewish government under the Messiah ; and to crown 
the representative of Christ, (who should be both King 
and Priest,) with the emblems of civil and religious 
authority united 8 , which were to be preserved in the 
temple as memorials of the prophetic ceremony, and as 
expressive of the character of the expected Messiah. 

To the captives from Babylon, or other professors 
of the Hebrew religion 9 , who pharisaically observed 

God's servant. Vid. Isa. xli. 1. xlix. 3. lii. 13. liii. 11. Ezek. 
xxxiv. 23. The Seventy translate the word nov (which signifies a 
branch rising upward from the root or stalk) in this and other 
places, 'AraroX)), the East, or sun-rising, thence applied to Christ. 
Luke i. 78. and translated "the day-spring." Hence, perhaps, the 
Jewish prophecy mentioned by Tacitus, as contained in the ancient 
writings of the Priests, (ut valesceret Oriens). Vid. Tacit. Hist. lib. 
v. c. xiii. Grot, in loc. et ad Agg. ii. 8. 

5 Ch. iv. 9, 10. 

6 Ch. v. and Deut. xxvii. xxviii. 

7 Ch. vi. The chariots and horses probably represent the Ba- 
bylonian, Persian, Macedonian, and Roman empires. The two 
brazen mountains may signify God's immoveable decrees. Vid. Psa. 
xxxvi. 6. 

8 Ch. vi. 10 — 15. comp. with Jerem. xxxiii. 15. xxiii. 5. 

9 Some have supposed that they who were sent to pray before 



488 OF THE BOOK OF ZECHARIAH. 

solemn fasts without true contrition, the Prophet re- 
commends judgment, mercy, and compassion * ; and 
then addressing himself to the Jews, he promises a 
return of righteousness and favour to Jerusalem : assu- 
ring them, that the mournful fasts with which they 
lamented its destruction, should be converted into 
cheerful feasts ; and that the church of the Lord should 
be enlarged by the accession of many nations con- 
verted by means of the Jews 2 . 

The twelfth verse of the eleventh chapter, which 
exhibits a prophetic description of some circumstances 
afterwards fulfilled in our Saviour, appears to be cited 
by St. Matthew as spoken by Jeremy 3 . As this and 
the two preceding chapters, which are connected by a 
kind of continuation, have been thought to contain 
some particulars more suitable to the period of Jere- 
miah, than to that of Zechariah, or to the design of 
his appointment 4 , some learned writers have con- 

the Lord, vie!, ch. vii. 2. were Persian officers of Darius. Theodoret 
imagines that they were Cutheans, or Samaritans. Some have sup- 
posed that they were distant inhabitants of Judaea ; but probably 
they were Jewish captives from Babylon. Vid. Calmet, and other 
Commentators. 

1 Ch. vii. 9, 10. See Matt, xxiii. 23. 2 Ch. viii. 

3 Matt, xxvii. 9, 10. 

4 Mede is of opinion, that the description of Tyre, in ch. ix. 3. 
was not applicable to her condition after the destruction effected by 
Nebuchadnezzar ; but New Tyre might be rising into prosperity in 
the time of Zechariah. The prophecies in the ninth chapter against 
Damascus and the Philistines, and especially against Askelon, have 
been judged more descriptive of the desolation produced by Nebu- 
chadnezzar, than of the circumstances which resulted from the vic- 
tories of Alexander. It may be observed, likewise, that Assyria is 
threatened in ch. x. 11. though that empire was destroyed before the 
time of Zechariah, Assyria, however, may be put for Syria, or the 

7 



OF THE BOOK OF ZECHARIAH. 489 

ceived 5 , that they were written by the former Prophet; 
that they differ in style from the eight first chapters 6 , 
and that they have been accidentally transposed, or 
joined to those of Zechariah, from similarity of subject. 
Other writers are, however, of opinion, that St. Mat- 
thew, in the place referred to, might allude to some 
traditional prophecy of Jeremiah ; or that the name of 
Jeremy was improperly added or substituted by a mis- 
take of the copyist of the Gospel for that of Zechariah 7 . 
These writers maintain, that the chapters concerned in 
this inquiry admit of a construction perfectly consis- 
tent with the time of Zechariah ; that Zechariah in 
them describes the conquest of Damascus, Tyre, and 
Sidon, and of the cities of the Philistines, as effected 
by Alexander 8 ; the victories of the Maccabees over 
the troops of Antiochus, who was of Grecian de- 
scent; with future successes to be obtained by con- 
version to the true God, and deliverances similar to 
those of Egypt and Assyria 9 . It is further supposed, 
that Zechariah, then angry at the little effect produced 

enemies of God in general. Some, also, apply the passage in ch. xi. 
I — 6. at least in the first instance to the destruction of Jerusalem 
produced by the Babylonians ; though, perhaps, it may refer only to 
those calamitous circumstances which occurred subsequently to the 
time of Zechariah, as under Antiochus or Vespasian. Vid. 1 Mace. i. 
Joseph, de Bell. Jud. 

5 Hammond in Matt, xxvii. Mede, book iv. epist. 31. 60. Kid- 
der. Demonst. part ii. c. iii. Randolph's Texts cited in N. T. n. 28. 

6 Lowth's Praelect. Poet. 21. 

7 Matt, xxvii. 9. One Manuscript, the Syriac, Persic, and other 
versions, read £ia rov Trpo^ijrov, without any name, as do some of the 
fathers. St. Jerom professes to have seen a book attributed to Jere- 
miah, in which the prophetic passage was contained. See Whitby 
on Matthew. 

8 Ch. ix. 1—16. 9 Ch. ix. 13. x. 10, 11. 



490 OF THE BOOK OF ZECHARIAH. 

by his endeavours, denounces the future destruction of 
Jerusalem, its temple \ and lofty houses ; and repre- 
sents himself as breaking in vision the symbolical 
badges of his pastoral office, and as assuming " the 
instruments of a foolish shepherd," to foreshow the 
cruelties which should be exercised by a succession of 
wicked priests and rulers 2 : interspersed with, and 
adumbrated by which temporal promises and threats, 
are discovered prophecies of Christ ; who is spoken of 
in the most striking manner, with respect to his lowly 
entrance to Jerusalem ; as " riding upon an ass, and 
upon a colt the foal of an ass 3 ;" and again as being 
valued at thirty pieces of silver, which is typically 
foreshown in a visionary representation 4 . 

Whatever may be determined as to these three 
chapters, there is not sufficient reason to suppose, with 
some commentators, that the twelfth, thirteenth, and 
fourteenth chapters also, which constitute a distinct 
prophecy, were written before the time of Zechariah ; 
since they contain nothing incompatible with the period 

1 Ch. xi. 1 — 3. Lebanon is supposed to mean the temple with 
its cedar buildings. The Jewish writers relate, that before the 
destruction of the temple, the doors, though barred with iron, opened 
of their own accord ; when R. Johanan, a disciple of It. Hillel, 
directing his speech to the temple, said, " I know thy destruction is 
at hand, according to the prophecy of Zechariah," (open thy doors, 
O Lebanon). Tacitus and Josephus give an account of the por- 
tentous opening of the doors : Tac. Hist. lib. v. c xiii. Jos. Bell. 
Jud. lib. vi. c. v. 

2 Ch. xi. 15 — 17. Basnage's Hist, of the Jews, book vii. Prid. 
Con. par. i. b. iii. 

3 Ch. ix. 9. comp. with Matt. xxi. 2 — 9. where the Evangelist, 
perhaps, refers likewise to Isaiah lxii. 11. Yid. also, John xii. 14, 
15. who cites the sense rather than the words of the Prophet. 

4 Ch. xi. 12, 13. comp. with Matt. xxvi. 15. xxvii. 3—10. 



OF THE BOOK OF ZECHARIAH. 4 91 

of that Prophet 5 . At whatever time they were com- 
posed, they were unquestionably the production of an 
inspired writer, since they are cited as such in the New 
Testament 6 . They contain prophecies which refer en- 
tirely to the circumstances of the Christian dispensa- 
tion. They begin with the assurance of some final 
victories to be obtained over the enemies of Jerusa- 
lem 7 ; they describe the restoration of the Jews, their 
conversion and bitter compunction for having pierced 
the Messiah 8 . The Prophet, then points to the first 
promulgation of the Gospel, when " a fountain should 
be opened to the house of David, and to the inhabitants 
of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness 9 ." With an 
animated apostrophe in the name of the Lord of Hosts, 
he calls upon " the sword to awake against the Shep- 
herd and against the man that was his" (the Lord's) 
" fellow V He represents " the Shepherd as smitten, 

' It has been supposed that the Prophet in ch. xii. 11. alludes to 
the mourning made for Josiah, who was slain at Megiddo. Vid. 
2 Kings xxiii. 29. 2 Chron. xxxv. 22 — 25. But Zechariah might 
speak of this mourning as proverbially sorrowful, though it happened 
before his time. Some also have imagined, that the prediction in 
ch. xiii. 2 — 6. was uttered before the* captivity, though the abuses of 
which the final extirpation is there foretold, were not so totally 
suppressed as to be unknown after the return from Babylon. The 
Prophets likewise, in general, in their descriptions of the final refor- 
mation to be produced in the church, foretel the utter destruction of 
idolatry. Vid. Isaiah ii. 18. xxx. 22. xxxi. 7. Hosea ii. 17. 
Micah v. 13. 

6 John xix. 37. Matt. xxi. 4, 5. xxvi. 31. 

7 Ch. xii. 1 — 9. comp. with Ezek. xxxvii. xxxix. and Rev. 
xx. 9. 

8 Ch. xii. 10. 9 Ch. xiii. 1. 

1 Chap. xiii. 7. Ti'Dtf, " my associate;" in Sept. Ilo/W^y. See 
Luke ii. 35. Philip, ii. 6. Acts ii. 23. 



492 OF THE BOOK OF ZECHARIAH. 

and the sheep scattered 2 ," at a time when it should 
come to pass that in all the land, two parts should be 
cut off, and the remainder be left, whose faith should 
be tried in affliction, and should finally acknowledge 
the Lord their God 3 . In the last chapter, he more 
minutely describes the destruction of Jerusalem by the 
Romans 4 , and the ultimate discomfiture of the enemies 
of the Jews 5 , together with the final and triumphant 
establishment of the righteous kingdom of Christ, who 
should be king over the whole earth 6 . The Prophet 
foretels these particulars with a clearness which indi- 
cated the near approach of the events of which he 
speaks. 

The style of Zechariah is so remarkably similar to 
that of Jeremiah, that the Jews were accustomed to 
observe, that the spirit of Jeremiah had passed into 
him. He is generally prosaic till towards the conclu- 
sion of his book, when he becomes more elevated and 
poetical. The whole work is beautifully connected by 
easy transitions, and present and future scenes are 
blended with the most delicate contexture. 

Epiphanius attributes some predictions to Zechariah, 
which were delivered according to his account by the 
Prophet at Babylon, and on the journey in his return 
from thence ; but these are not extant in Scripture, 
and are of very questionable authority. The Zechariah 

2 Chap. xiii. 7. comp. with Matt. xxvi. 31. and Mark xiv. 27. 

3 Chap. xiii. 8, 9. - Joseph, de Bell. Jud. lib. vii. 

4 Chap. xiv. 1, 2. that by Vespasian. Vid. Euseb. Demonst. 
lib. vi. c. 13, 14. 18. &c. See also, lib. x. p. 478. 487. edit. Paris, 
1628. 

5 Chap. xiv. 3. 

6 Chap. xiv. 8. and following verse. 



OF THE BOOK OF ZECHARIAH. 493 

to whom an apocryphal book is ascribed by some 
writers, is supposed to have been a different person 
from the Prophet, and according to Fabricius, he was 
the father of John the Baptist 7 . 

7 Athan. Synop. Fabric. Cod. Pseudep. Script, vol. i. 



OF THE 



BOOK OF THE PROPHET 
MALACHI. 



Malachi was the last of those Prophets who flourished 
before the Gospel dispensation. Some writers strangely 
imagined that Malachi was merely a general name, 
signifying the angel of the Lord ; a messenger, or 
Prophet, because the title of Malach-Jehovah, or mes- 
senger of the Lord, was often applied to the Prophets l . 
The Septuagint version has rendered 'DttbD, Malachi, 
my angel; and several of the Fathers have quoted 
Malachi under the title " of the angel of the Lord ;" 
and hence some have fancied that he was an angel 
incarnate, and not a man 2 . Others have supposed that 
under the appellative name of Malachi, was intended 
Ezra 3 ; and have maintained that Malachi is not men- 

1 Isa. xliv. 26. Haggai i. 13. Maimon. More Nevoch. par. ii. 
e. xli. " Propheta enim non raro vocatur Angelus." 

2 Origen. torn. ii. in Joan. Hieron. Prsefat. in Malach. August, 
de Civit. Dei, lib. xx. c. xxv. Tertull. cont. Judaeos, p. 187. The 
same idea prevailed concerning Haggai, the Baptist, &c. 

3 Abrah. Zacut. in Juchasin. David Ganz, Chaldee Paraph, in 
Malach. Buxtorf. Tiberiad. c. iii. Hieron. Prsef. in Malach. Isi- 
dore, &c. 



OF THE BOOK OF MALACHI. 495 

tioned among the Prophets in the book of Ecclesiasti- 
cus. But it is very certain, that Malaehi was a different 
person from Ezra. His work had a distinct place in 
the Hebrew canon ; and in fact he is as much noticed 
by the author of Ecclesiasticus, as any of the other 
minor Prophets ; all of whom are celebrated under one 
collective memorial 4 . The names of the Prophets are 
very often expressive of their office ; and that of Malaehi 
was probably assumed as descriptive of his character 5 , 
as he was eminently distinguished for the virtues of his 
mind, and for the graces of his exterior form ; it being 
unquestionably the appropriate name of a human Pro- 
phet. 

Malaehi is represented by some traditionary accounts, 
to have been of the tribe of Zabulon, and a native of 
Sapha 6 : to have died young, and to have been buried 
with his ancestors at Sapha, after having assisted as a 
member of the great Synagogue in the re-establishment 
of order and prosperity in his country. Usher conceives 
him to have flourished about a.m. 3588, which is about 
twenty years later than the period assigned to him by 
Blair 7 . But as it appears from the consent of all 

4 Ecclus. xlix. 10. 

5 Some inventive writers absurdly say, that an angel visibly ap- 
peared to confirm immediately what the Prophet uttered. Vid. 
Epiph. Doroth. et Chron. Alex. 

6 Or Sopha, or Supha, or Socha. Vid. Epiphan. Doroth. &c. 

7 St. Jerom makes Malaehi contemporary with Darius Hystaspes. 
Vid. Hieron. Praefat. in 12 Proph. et Prasfat. in Mai. Euseb. Chron. 
lib. ii. Theodor. Procem. in 12 Proph. But if we admit Blair's 
account, which gives Malaehi the highest antiquity, he must rather 
have been contemporary with Artaxerxes Longimanus, or Darius 
Nothus. Vid. August, de Civit. Dei, lib. xviii. c. xxxv. Clem. 
Alex. Strom, i. p. 396. Cyrill. Alexand. Praef. in Malach. 



496 OF THE BOOK OF MALACHI. 

Jewish and Christian antiquity, that the light of pro- 
phecy expired in Malachi 8 , we may suppose that the 
termination of his ministry coincided with the accom- 
plishment of the first seven weeks of Daniel's prophecy, 
which was the period allotted for " sealing the vision 
and prophecy 9 ." This, according to Prideaux's account, 
must be assigned to a.m. 3595, but according to the 
calculations of Bishop Lloyd, to a.m. 3607, twelve 
years later 1 . Whichever reckoning we may prefer, 
Malachi must be admitted to have completed the canon 
of the Old Testament, about four hundred years before 
the birth of Christ ; when the great designs of Provi- 
dence were completed in the termination of the pro- 
phetic ministry ; and when a scheme of prophecy was 
unfolded which in its entire contexture was to be ac- 
commodated to, and to characterize the Messiah. 

Malachi certainly prophesied some time after Haggai 
and Zechariah, for in his time the temple was rebuilt 
and its worship re-established 2 ; and his ministry coin- 
cided with or succeeded the period of Nehemiah. He 
censures the same offences that had excited the indig- 
nation of that governor, and which he had not been 
able entirely to reform ; for Malachi, speaking of God's 
superior kindness to the Israelites above the Edomites, 
begins with declaiming against the priests for their 
profane and mercenary conduct, and the people for 

8 Abraham Zacutus in Juchasin. David. Seder Olam Zuta. 
Maimon. Massec. Sotah. c. ult. Edict. Bartiner. Gem. Sanhed. c. 1. 
§ 13. Cosri Maam. 3. § 30. R. Tanchum. 1 Mace. iv. 46. ix. 27. 
Clemens Alex. Strom, lib. i. Justin Martyr entertained a false 
notion that the spirit of prophecy did not cease till the Christian 
sera. Smith on Prophecy, ch. xii. 

9 Dan. ix. 24. l See p. 215, note 9 , of this work. 
2 Chap. i. 7. 10. 12. iii. 10. 



OF THE BOOK OF MALACH1. 497 

their multiplied divorces and intermarriages with idola- 
trous nations 3 ; he threatens them with punishment 
and rejection ; declaring that God would " make his 
name great among the Gentiles 4 ," for that he was 
wearied with the impiety of Israel. From this the 
Prophet takes occasion awfully to proclaim that the 
Lord whom they sought, should suddenly come, with 
restoration, as it were, of the Divine presence, to his 
temple, preceded by that messenger who, like a harbin- 
ger, should prepare his way ; that the Lord, when he 
should appear, should purify the sons of Levi from 
their unrighteousness, and refine them as metal from 
the dross 5 ;" that then " the offering of Judah," the 
spiritual sacrifice of the heart, should "be pleasant to 
the Lord," as was that of the Patriarchs, or their un- 

3 Mai. ii. comp with Neh. xiii. 23—27. and Mai. i. 10. iii. 8. 
with Neh. xiii. 10, 11. 

4 Chap. i. 11. The latter part of this verse relative to Mincha, 
or rather Ve-men-e-heh nnJDl, a pure oblation to be generally 
offered up, was considered in the primitive church as an express 
prophecy of the Christian sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving 
with reference to the atonement of Christ commemorated in the 
Eucharist, of which the circumstances are described under the 
typical rites of the Jewish worship. Hence the words of the passage 
were inserted into a hymn in the liturgy of the church of Alexan- 
dria, which is called the liturgy of St. Mark. Vid. Levit. ii. 1. 
Heb. xiii. 15. Rev. viii. 3. Tertullian adv. Judaeos, p. 188. § 5. 
Justin Martyr. Dial, cum Tryphone, pars 2. p. 220. Ambrose de 
Officiis Ministrorum, lib. i. cap. 48. Umbra in Lege, Imago in 
Evangelio, Veritas in Ccelestibus. Eusebius, Demonstrat. Evangel. 
lib. i. c. x. August, de Civit. Dei, lib. xviii. c. xxxv. Mede's 
Discourses on the Christian Sacrifice, book ii. c. i — ix. p. 355 — 379. 
edit. 1677. 

5 Chap. iii. 1 — 3. comp. with Isaiah i. 25. Mark i. 2. Luke i. 76. 

Kk 



498 OF THE BOOK OF MALACHT. 

corrupted ancestors 6 ; and that the Lord would quickly 
exterminate the corruptions and adulteries which pre- 
vailed. He foretels the extension of Christ's kingdom 
over the Gentiles, from the rising of the sun unto the 
going down of the same 7 . He proceeds with an earnest 
exhortation to repentance : promising high rewards and 
remembrance to the righteous in that last day, when 
the Lord should select unto himself a peculiar treasure, 
and finally discern between the righteous and the 
wicked 8 . Malachi concludes with an impressive as- 
surance of approaching salvation to those who feared 
God's name, from that " Sun of righteousness which 
should arise with healing in his wings ;" and render 
them triumphant : enjoining, in the solemn close of his 
exhortation, when uttering, as it were, the last admo- 
nition of the Jewish Prophets, an observance of the 
Law of Moses ; till the advent of Elijah 9 , the Prophet, 
who before the coming of that " great and dreadful day 
of the Lord, should turn the heart of the fathers to the 
children, and the heart of the children l to their fathers ;" 



6 Chap. iii. 4. " As in the days of old." 

7 Chap. i. 11. 8 Chap. iii. 16—18. 

9 Chap. iv. 5. John came in the spirit and power of Elias. Vid. 
Luke i. 17. and resembled him in office and character. Vid. Mark 
ix. 12. Ecclus. xlviii. 10. The Seventy following the received 
Jewish tradition, add " the Tishbite." In this sense John denies 
himself to be Elias. John i. 21. He was not Elias himself, but 
another Elias, the antitype of the first. 

1 It is proposed to translate by, al ; not ' to,' but ' with.' Vid. 
Exod. xxxv. 22. et Kimchi. And then the passage means not that 
Elijah should reconcile religious differences between intimate rela- 
tions, but that he should produce a general reformation. Vid. 
Arnald. in Ecclus. xlviii. 10. 



OF THE BOOK OF MALACHT. 499 

who should produce an entire amendment in the minds 
of the people. 

Thus Malachi sealed up the volume of prophecy in 
the description of that personage at whose appearance 
the evangelists begin the gospel history 2 ; and he who 
terminated the illustrious succession of the Prophets of 
the first dispensation, and predicted the coming of the 
Baptist, was in an especial degree entitled to a share 
of our Saviour's testimony, when He declared, in terms 
which defined the objects and extent of Jewish pro- 
phecy, that " all the Prophets prophesied until John 3 ." 
Malachi is, likewise, elsewhere frequently cited as a 
Prophet by the writers of the New Testament 4 . 

The work of Malachi was admirably calculated to 
excite religious impressions, and an observance of that 
Law which was to direct the chosen people of God 
until a more perfect institution should be established. 
He calls upon the people, in animated language, to 
testify their gratitude and reverence for God ; he par- 
ticularly reminds the priests of the covenant of peace 
which God had made with Levi for the fear wherewith 
he feared the Lord, " when the law of truth was in his 
mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips," when 
"he walked with God in peace and equity, and turned 
many away from iniquity ;" and he emphatically adds, 
with intimation it might seem of the ordinance to be 
established of a purer ministry, " for the priest's lips 
should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law 

2 Mark i. 1, 2. 

3 Matt. xi. 13. Luke xvi. 16. Jansen. in Ecclus. xlviii. 2. 

4 Matt. xi. 10. xvii. 10—12. Mark i. 2. ix. 11, 12. Luke 
i. 17. vii. 27. Rom. ix. 13. 

Kk 2 



500 OF THE BOOK OF MALACHI. 

at his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of 
Hosts V 

The style of Malachi has been represented as of the 
middle kind ; it is not remarkable for beauty, as he 
lived in the decline of Hebrew poetry, which decayed 
much after the Jewish captivity. 

5 Chap. ii. 4 — 7. 2 Corinth, v. 20. The Jews, by the messen- 
ger of the covenant, understood the Messiah. See Raym. Martini, 
Pugio Fidei, cap. ix. p. 376. edit. Lips. 1687. See also, p. 166, on 
Haggai ii. 7. 



PREFACE 



TO THE 



APOCRYPHAL BOOKS. 



The books which are admitted into our Bibles under 
the description of Apocryphal Books, are so denomi- 
nated from a Greek word, which is expressive of the 
uncertainty and concealed nature of their original 1 . 
They have no title to be ranked with the inspired 
writings already discussed ; and though, in respect of 
their antiquity and valuable contents, they are annexed 
to the canonical books, it is in a separate division : 
and by no means upon an idea that they are of equal 
authority, in point of doctrine, with them ; or that they 

1 Apocrypha, from cnroKpvir-h), to hide. The word seems to have 
been first applied only to books of doubtful authority ; or as it is 
used by Origen, to imply works out of the canon. It was after- 
wards employed to characterize spurious and pernicious books. It 
has been thought, that books of doubtful character were first termed 
Apocryphal by the Jews, because they were removed euro ttjq h-pwrrjc; 
from the ark of the covenant, where the canonical books were placed, 
or because shut up from the generality of readers, and concealed, as 
some assert, in a chest of the temple. In the primitive church, 
some of these books, especially those of Wisdom and Ecclesiasticus, 
were imparted to Catechumens, and all of them were allowed to be 
read under certain restrictions. Athanas. Synop. torn. ii. p. 58* 
edit. Par. 1627. 



502 PREFACE 

are to be received as oracles of faitli ; to sanctify 
opinions, or to determine religious controversies. 

It is universally allowed, that these books were not 
in the canon of the Jews, to whom alone " were 
committed the oracles of God 2 ;" and, indeed, they 
were composed after the closing of the sacred cata- 
logue. Some writers, without, however, a shadow of 
authority, have pretended that Tobit, Judith, Eccle- 
siasticus, Baruch, and perhaps others, were received by 
the Jews into a second canon 3 , said to be made by 
a council assembled at Jerusalem in the time of 
Eleazar the high-priest, upon the occasion of sending 
the seventy-two interpreters to Ptolemy King of 
Egypt 4 ; and that the rest were canonized by a third 
council, assembled in the time of Sammai and Hillel ; 
but of these councils, the Jews, tenacious as they are 
of traditions, have no account or memorial ; and the 
books in question were composed after the cessation of 
the prophetic spirit, by persons who displayed no 
characters of inspiration ; and some of whom seem to 
have disclaimed its pretensions 5 . They were not 
accepted by the Jews as of canonical authority, nor 
were they, as some have imagined, placed among the 
dirD, (writings,) a title under which some of the 
Holy Scriptures were ranged. No books, indeed, were 
admitted into the canon of the Jews, but those of 

2 Rom. iii. 2. Joseph, cont. Apion. lib. i. § viii. p. 1333. Hieron. 
Prol. Gal. Introduction, p. 7. 

3 Hence they are sometimes called Deutero-canonical by the 
Romanists. 

4 Genebrard. Chron. lib. ii. p. 190. col. 2. and p. 284. col. 1. 
Maldonat. de Sacram. Pcenit. q. de Purgat. p. 145. Serar. in Mace. 
Praeloq. iii. 

5 1 Mace, ix. 27. 2 Mace. ii. 30, 31. xv. 38. 



TO THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS. 503 

writers allowed to be inspired, and chronicles of their 
own nation, transmitted from age to age, as divinely 
authenticated records of their state and polity 6 . 

Tobit and Judith were, indeed, supposed by Rabbi- 
nical conceits, to have been derived from that lower 
kind of inspiration which was called Bath Col, fllia 
vocis 7 . But this was an absurd fancy, and none of the 
books are cited either as prophetic or doctrinal by our 
Saviour or his apostles s ; and though some writers 
have pretended to discover a coincidence between cer- 
tain passages contained in them, and others in the 
New Testament, it will be found that the evangelical 
writers on these occasions only accidentally concur in 
sentiment or expression with the authors of the apo- 
cryphal books ; or that the resemblance results from 
an imitation of passages in the sacred writings of the 
Old Testament, which the evangelical and the apo- 
cryphal writers might equally have had in view. But, 
indeed, if any occasional allusion, or borrowed expres- 
sions, could be proved, they would by no means 

6 The later Jews esteemed some of the prophetical books to be 
Hagiographa in a higher sense of the word ; supposing them to be 
derived from the second degree in their scale of prophecy. Vid. 
Maimon. More Nevoch. p. ii. c. xlv. Huet. in Judith, prop. iv. 
p. 170. The word was, perhaps, first intended to describe the 
uninspired productions of holy men ; and afterwards improperly 
applied to fanciful distinctions of the sacred books. Vid. Introduc- 
tion to this work, p. 9. 

7 Preface to the Prophets. 

8 Index Testimon. a Christ, et Apost. citat. ex Vet. T. in fin. 
Bibl. vulg. edit. Sixt. V. et Clemen. VIII. Venet. 1616. Catha- 
rin. opusc. de Script. Canon. Stapleton de Autor. S. Script, lib. 
ii. c. iv. sect. 14. and Preface to the second book of Esdras, which 
was written or interpolated, after the publication of the New Testa* 
ment. 



504 PREFACE 

establish the authority of the apocryphal books, which 
might be referred to, as were other books by the 
sacred writers, without any design to confer on them a 
character of divine authority 9 . 

It is certain, that long after the time of our Saviour, 
the Hebrew canon consisted but of twenty-two books 1 ; 
and that at this day the Jews adhere to the same list, 
though by separating books- formerly united, they 
appear to increase the number; and it is not reasonable, 
or consistent with authentic accounts, to suppose that 
at any time before or after Christ, the canon which 
the Jews so religiously respected, should have been 
altered by them. It is not probable that they should 
have admitted any addition after the death of Simon 
the Just, who was the last of the great Synagogue ; or 
that if such addition had been allowed, they should 
have expunged these writings which contain nothing 
so favourable to Christianity, as the prophetic books 
which they have suffered to continue inviolate. Had 
the books been erased before the time of Christ, the 
sacrilege must have excited his censures ; and since 
the establishment of the Gospel, any endeavour to 
deface the canon mnst have been detected and ex- 
posed. 

These apocryphal books did not constitute any 



9 2 Tim. iii. 8. Heb. xii. 21. Jude, ver. 14. See also Origen. 
Prol. in Cant. p. 32. 36. Sect. B. torn. iii. 

1 Joseph, cont. Apion. lib. i. § viii. Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. 
c. ix. R. Asarias in Meor Enaim, p. 29. 141. 169. 175. R. Geda- 
liah Ben-Jechajah in Shalshelesh Haccabballah. p. 68. 99. 104. 
R. Abrah. Zachus in Juchasin, p. 136. 138. R. David. Gantz in 
Tsemach David, part ii. p. 10. R. Menasse Ben Israel de Creatione, 
Prob. x. p. 45. as cited by Grabe. Prolegom. cap. i. prop, xxiv. 
torn. ii. 



TO THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS. 505 

part of the Septnagint version of the scriptures, as set 
forth by the translators under Ptolemy. It is supposed, 
however, that many of them were received by the 
Jewish synagogue established at Alexandria, which 
possibly might have derived its origin from the period 
of that version 2 . From the Hellenistic Jews they were 
probably accepted by the Christian church; but by 
whomsoever, and at whatever time they were com- 
municated, it is certain that they were not received as 
strictly canonical, or enrolled among the productions of 
the inspired writers as sacred, though sometimes inter- 
spersed with them, being marked in that case as in 
Jerom's versions, with intimations that they w T ere not 
canonical; since they were not in the earlier cata- 
logues 3 ; and were excluded from the sacred list by the 
Fathers of the Greek and Latin Church, who flourished 
during the first four centuries 4 ; though often cited by 

2 Grabii Septuagint. Proleg. ad Lib. Hist. c. i. prop. 24. torn. ii. 

3 Constit. Apost. lib. ii. c. lvii. Canon. Apost. Can. ult. The 
present copies of the canons of the apostles, which include the three 
books of Maccabees, are evidently corrupted, the canons having 
formerly corresponded with the canon of the Council of Laodicea. 
Vid. Zonar. in Concil. Laodic. Can. 59. p. 361. edit. 1618. Eu- 
seb. Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. c. xxvi. Cosin's Scholast. Hist. ch. iv. 
sect. 45. 

4 Dionys. Hierarch. Eccles. c. iii. Melito, ap. Euseb. lib. iv. 
c. xxvi. Origen. ap. Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. vi. c. xxv. Basil in 
Orig. Philocal. c. iii. RurBn. vers. Euseb. lib. vi. Tertul. advers. 
Marcion. Carmen, line 198, 199. who probably by reckoning Ruth 
and Lamentations separately, makes the number twenty-four. 
Athan. Epist. 39. ad Rufinum, p. 38. torn. 2. Athan. Synops. 
Hilar. Prol. in Lib. Psalm, p. 10. edit. Paris. Cyril. Catech. iv. 
c. xxxv. p. 68. edit. Par. 1720. Epiphan. Haeres. 8. de Epicur. 
p. 19. torn. 1. et Hseres. 16. cont. Anomseos, p. 941. et de Pond, 
et Mensur. Gregor. Nazianz. de ver. et german. Scriptur. Libr. torn. 



506 PREFACE 

them as valuable and instructive works, and sometimes 
even as divine, and as scripture in a loose and popular 
sense 5 . In the language of the primitive church they 
were styled ecclesiastical 6 , as contradistinguished from 
those infallible works which were canonized as unques- 
tionably inspired, and also from those erroneous and 
pernicious writings which were stigmatized and pro- 
scribed as apocryphal. 

The ecclesiastical books, (under which division were 
contained other productions besides those now termed 
apocryphal, as the Shepherd of Hermas 7 , the doctrine 
of the Apostles 8 , and the first epistle of Clement,) 
though considered as human works, and as subordinate 
to the sacred books, were nevertheless approved and 
read by the church as capable of affording much in- 
struction 9 . The Fathers quote them as pious and 

ii. p. 98. edit. Par. 1630. Amphiloc. Epist. ad Seleucum, p. 131 — 3. 
edit. Paris. Chrysost. Homil. iv. in Genes, et Homil. 8. in Epist. 
ad Hebrse. Hieron. Prsefat. in Lib. Solomon, p. 939. edit. Paris, 
1693. and Procem. in Esdram, et in Paralip. Cosin's Scho. Hist. 
Canon, vi. § 73. Ruffin. Symbol. Apost. sect. 35, 36. 

5 Origen cites Tobit and the Maccabees as scripture. Origen in 
Numeros, Horn. 27. sect. 1. de Princip. lib. ii. c. iii. Homil. 3. in 
Cant, as he does likewise the Shepherd of Hermas, and the Book of 
Henoch, without believing them to be canonical in the strict sense of 
the word. So Eusebius quotes Josephus and Aristaeus, as well as 
the Maccabees. Prsep. Evang. lib. viii. c. ii. lib. x. c. vii. Thus, 
also, Epiphanius calls the apostolical constitutions divine. Hseres. 
8. and 10. Can. lib. v. c. 5. Irenseus likewise enumerates among 
the Prophets, writers who were only partially and erroneously so 
considered. Lib. i. c. 30. P. iii. et Dissertationes Prsevise, p. 108. 

6 Ruffin. in Symbolum. 

7 Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. c. 3, 

8 This book was probably the work now called the apostolical 
canons. Athan. Epist. xxxix. torn. ii. p. 38. edit. Par. 1627, 

9 Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. c. xxii. 



TO THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS. 507 

venerable books, and as deservedly holden in great 
estimation : they speak of them in high and hyperbo- 
lical terms, as sacred, as bearing some resemblance to 
the inspired writings, but not as certainly inspired, or 
as of sufficient authority in points of doctrine ; for those 
passages which they are represented to cite from them 
as such, are cited in spurious or doubtful books, or 
from similar places in sacred writ. Abundant testimo- 
nies have been produced to prove that they were not 
received as canonical during the first four centuries; 
and they have never been generally admitted into the 
canon of the Greek church ; nor were they judged 
canonical in the same degree as the Law and the Pro- 
phets, even in the western church, till the Council of 
Trent 1 , against evidence, and, indeed, consistency 2 , 
pronounced them so to be. In the first general coun- 
cil holden at Nice, a. d. 325, none of these books 
appear to have been admitted as canonical 3 in any 
sense of that word ; and they certainly were not re- 
ceived by the Council of Laodicea, which was holden 
about forty years afterwards, of which the canons were 
adopted into the code of the universal church 4 , (a. d. 



1 Collier, Pref. Second Part of Eccles. Hist. 

2 Cosin's Scholast. Hist. ch. vii. sect, 82. Compare also p. 510. 
line 7. of this work, with sect. 70. 

3 Cosin's Scholas. ch. vi. sect. 54. 

4 Concil. Calced. Can. 1. and Can. 163. [a.d. 451.] Concil. 
Constant. 6. in Trullo, Can. 2. [a.d. 681. and 691.] The last 
council confirmed also the council of Carthage which admitted the 
Apocrypha ; but it must have confirmed that canon only as admitting 
them in a secondary sense, as it also confirmed that of Laodicea, 
which excluded them as not equal. Vid. Justin. Novel. 131. Jus- 
tellus Praef. in Cod. Eccles. Universal. 



508 PREFACE 

451 and 691), and which acknowledged precisely the 
same books 5 that we receive. 

In the fifth century, St. Augustin 6 and the Council of 
Carthage 7 appear to have admitted (chiefly in deference 
to popular opinion, and in compliance with that reve- 
rence which had arisen from use 8 ,) most of the apocry- 
phal books 9 as canonical ; meaning, however, canonical 

5 The Greek copies of this council reckon Baruch, the Lamenta- 
tions, and the Epistle, as composing one canonical book with Jere- 
miah ; and Athanasius and Cyril have been supposed to have re- 
ceived Baruch as canonical. But Baruch is mentioned in the cata- 
logues referred to, not probably as the apocryphal book, but for a 
more full description of Jeremiah's work, in which Baruch is often 
mentioned, and in the writing of which he was employed ; and the 
epistle may mean that contained in the twenty-ninth chapter of 
Jeremiah's book. Vid. Cosin's Schol. Hist. ch. vi. sect. 61, and 
Preface to Baruch, 

6 August, contra Gaudentium Donatist. Episc. lib. i. c. xxxi. p. 
445. edit. Antwerp, 1700. Epist. 61. ad Dulcit. Vid. also de Civit. 
Dei, lib. xviii. c> xxxvi. St. Augustin, speaking of the books of Mac- 
cabees, says that they were received as canonical, not by the Jews, 
but by the church " propter quorundam martyrum passiones vehe- 
mentes atque mirabiles, qui antequam Christus venisset in carnem 
usque ad mortem pro Dei lege certaverunt." 

7 The forty-seventh canon, in which those books are consecrated, 
is erroneously attributed to the third council of Carthage, which, as 
the title says, assembled in 397 ; for it must have belonged to a later 
council holden during the time of Boniface, to whom it is referred ; 
and it corresponds nearly with a canon framed by an African council, 
holden under the consulate of Honorius XII. and Theodosius VIII. 
in 419. Vid. Codex. Canon. Eccles. African. Can. 24. et Binii, et 
Justelli, not. in Concil. Carthag. 3. Can. 47, 48. 

8 August, de Civit. Dei, lib. xviii. c. xxxvi. et lib. xv. c. xxiii. 
Epist. 9. and 10. ad Hieron. " Quia a patribus," (says the canon) 
" ista accepimus in ecclesia legenda." Vid. Cosin's Scholast. Hist, 
ch. vii. sect. 82. not. See Concil. Roman, a. d. 494. 

9 Neither Augustin, nor the canon attributed to this council, enu- 



TO THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS. 509 

in a secondary sense ; as useful to be read ; and still with 
expressed or implied distinction from those sacred and 
inspired books which were established on the sanction of 
the Jewish canon, and on the testimony of our Saviour 
and his apostles. After this time, other Fathers l and 
Councils 9 seem occasionally to have considered these 
books as canonical, and inferior only to the sacred writ- 
ings ; but always with distinction, and with express 
declarations of their inferiority when that question was 
strictly agitated 3 ; till at length the Council of Trent, 
notwithstanding the testimony of all Jewish antiquity, 
and contrary to the sense of the primitive church, 
thought fit to pronounce them all, (except the prayer 
of Manasseh, and the third and fourth books of 
Esdras \) together with the unwritten traditions rela- 
tive to faith and manners, as strictly and in every re- 
spect canonical, and of the same authority as those 
undisputed books which had been copied from the 
Jewish into the Christian canon, and received the at- 

merate the fourth (that is, the second) book of Esdras, Baruch, or the 
Prayer of Manasseh. Vid. Justellus in Xotis ad Can. xxiv. 

1 See also the suspected epistle of Innocent I. ad Exuper. and the 
decree attributed to Geiasius, ad omnes Episc. in Can. Vet. Eccles. 
Rom. edit. Par. 1609. Isidor. Orig. lib. vi. c. i. et Procem. Sap. et 
Ecclus. 

2 Sum. Caranzae in Decret. 7. Concil. Florent. (a. d. 1439.) The 
council of Florence was not properly oecumenical ; the canon which 
represents the apocryphal books as inspired, is probably a forgery, 
as it is only in the epitomes. Cosin's Scholast. Hist. ch. xvi. § 159. 

3 Cosin's canon of Scripture : where this is proved by numberless 
references to the authors who flourished from the first ages of the 
church, to the middle of the sixteenth century. Vid. also Reynold's 
Censura Apocryphorum. 

4 Bib. Sanct. Sixt. V. et Clement VIII. Jussa edita juxt. decret. 
Concil. Trid. 



5 1 PREFACE 

testation of Christ and his apostles : of which the in- 
spiration was manifested by the character of their 
composers, and proved by the accomplishment of the 
prophecies which they contain 5 . 

This canon was confirmed by severe anathemas 6 
against all who should reject it. The Vulgate was 
published (without the prologues of Jerom), and from 
this time the Roman Catholics have endeavoured to 
maintain the canonical authority of these books, though 
their most strenuous advocates are obliged to allow that 
they were not received into the canon of Ezra. They 
are compelled to yield a superiority as to external sanc- 
tions, to those uncontroverted books which are exclu- 
sively canonized in the earliest and most authentic 
catalogues of the Christian church 7 ; and labour to 
defend the decision of the Council of Trent, as to the 
apocryphal writings, by appealing to the authority of 
preceding councils, of which the canons were never 
generally received, or which admitted the contested 
books as canonical only in a subordinate and inferior 
sense. It is, therefore, upon the most just and tenable 
grounds that our church has framed her sixth article, 
where, in agreement with all Protestant churches, she 
adheres in her catalogue to those writings of which 
there " was never any doubt in the church ;" and, in 

5 " Omnes Libros, &c. pari pietatis affectu ac reverentia suscipit 
et veneratur." Concil. Trident. Sess. 4. 

6 " Siquis autem libros ipsos integros cum omnibus suis partibus, 
&c. pro sacris et canonicis non susceperit, &c. Anathema sit." Vid. 
Concil. Trid. Sess. 4. et in Bulla P. Pii IV. sup. form. Juram. Pro- 
fess, fid. 

7 Sixt. Senens. Bib. Sanct. lib. i. Bellarm. de Verb. Dei, lib. i. 
c. x. p. 31. 



TO THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS. 511 

conformity to the doctrine of the patriarchal churches 8 , 
as recorded by Cyril, Athanasius, Anastasius, and Gre- 
gory Nazianzen, rejects those books which are styled 
apocryphal in our Bibles, though she reads them, as, 
Jerom observes, did the Western church 9 , " for example 
of life, and instruction of manners." 

It must indeed be confessed, that notwithstanding 
certain passages of exceptionable tendency, and some 
relations of improbable circumstances, these books are 
entitled to great respect ; as written by persons, who 
being intimately conversant with the Scriptures, had, 
as it were, imbibed their spirit, and caught their pious 
enthusiasm. Whoever reads them with attention, 
must be highly gratified by the splendid sentiments, 
and sublime descriptions which they contain. They 
sometimes, likewise, present us with passages borrowed 
from the sacred writings, and with the finest imitations 
of inspired eloquence ; they include besides, it may be, 
some scattered fragments of Divine wisdom, and some 
traditional precepts derived from men enlightened by a 
prophetic spirit. They occasionally illustrate the ac- 
complishment of prophecy ; and throw light on the 
Scriptures by explaining the manners, sentiments, and 
history of the Jews. They afford also some informa- 
tion as to a period of which we have but few traces, 
and of which records even of a subordinate character 
are valuable, and seem to have been preserved for im- 
portant purposes. The rejection of their claims to be 
received into the sacred canon, serves to show what 
caution was observed with respect to the admission of 

8 Those of Jerusalem, Alexandria, Antioch, and Constantinople. 

9 Hieron. Prsefat. in Lib. Solom. ad Chrom. et Heliod. p. 938. 

3 



512 PREFACE TO THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS. 

books into it. They bear then an indirect and impar- 
tial testimony to the truth of our religion ; they are 
venerable for their antiquity ; recommended by long 
established approbation, and in some measure conse- 
crated to our regard by the commendations of the 
Church, and by being annexed to the inspired writings. 
Where they are defective, they may have been perhaps 
injured or corrupted by subsequent additions, as not 
being watched over with such religious care as were 
the sacred books. It may be added also, that many of 
those passages which appear to have a bad tendency, 
are capable of a good construction, and that, perhaps, 
some blemishes may be attributed to our translators, 
who in rendering the apocryphal books have been ac- 
cused of much carelessness \ They who are disposed 
to profit by their perusal, will find it not difficult by 
the light of the inspired books, to discriminate and 
select what is excellent and consistent with truth, and 
to reject such objectionable particulars as prove them 
to be the production of unassisted, and sometimes 
of mistaken men. 

1 The learned Du Port, then Greek Professor at Cambridge, was 
among the seven able persons employed under King James ; but 
though his work has much merit, it is very often faulty and imper- 
fect. The translators seem to have attributed too little consequence 
to the apocryphal books, though Dr. Geddes affirms, that the apo- 
cryphal books are translated better than the rest of the Bible, and 
attributes the circumstance to the translators not having been cramped 
by the fathers of the Masora. 

[The Apocrypha have lately been translated into Hebrew.] 



OF THE 



FIRST BOOK OF ESDRAS. 



The First Book of Esdras, or Ezra ', is generally sup- 
posed to have been the work of some Hellenistic Jew. 
It is uncertain at what time it was composed ; the 
particulars contained in it are related by Josephus : it 
was, therefore, probably written before the time of that 
historian. The book, though in its style it has much 
of the Hebrew idiom, was, it is believed, never extant 
in that language 2 ; at least it certainly was not admitted 
into the Hebrew canon. It was annexed, however, to 
some copies of the Septuagint 3 , and placed in some 
manuscripts before the book of Ezra 4 , that of Nehe- 
miah being inserted between the two. Standing in 

1 The word is written N1W in the Hebrew, and "E£pag in the 
Greek. 

2 Isidor. Orig. lib. vi. c. ii. 

3 It was not in any of the Greek manuscripts used by the editors 
of the Complutensian Bible ; but it was found in some Greek copies 
when Aldus was printing his Septuagint at Venice. It was pub- 
lished from a manuscript in the library of St. Victor, at Paris, by 
Robert Stephens, as also in the London Polyglot. There is a Striae 
version of this Book. 

* Luc. Brug. in 3 Esdras. 

Ll 



514 OF THE FIRST BOOK OF ESDRAS. 

that order, it was called the First Book of Ezra ; and 
the authentic work of Ezra, together with that of 
Nehemiah, which seems to have been joined with it, 
was called the Second Book of Ezra 5 . This arrange- 
ment was probably adopted in consideration of the 
chronological order of the events described in the books 
respectively 6 . In some Greek editions it is, however, 
placed with more propriety as to its character, between 
the Song of the Three Children, and the Wisdom of 
Solomon 7 . 

As this book was inserted in some copies of the 
Septuagint, it was read in the Greek church ; and the 
council of Carthage, which canonized the vulgar trans- 
lation made from the Septuagint 8 , appears to have ad- 
mitted it together with other spurious productions, as 
canonical 9 , in that extended acceptation of the word 
which implied only, worthy to be read. St. Augustin, 
considers it as an historical rather than a prophetic 
work, attributed to Ezra. He suggests, however, that 
it might be thought even to contain a prophetic pas- 
sage, if by truth 1 described as conquering all things, is 

5 Bellarm. de Verb. Dei, lib. i. c. xx. § ad D. 

6 It stands in the same order in the Alexandrian code, and in the 
Syriac version. 

7 As in the Frankfort edition of 1597, and in that of Basil of 
1518. The Latin manuscripts vary. In some it is placed after 
Nehemiah, and called the Second Book of Ezra. Vid. Calmet 
Dissert, sur le Troisieme Livre d'Esdras. 

8 August, de Civit. Dei, lib. xviii. c. xliii. De Doctrin. Christian, 
lib. ii. c. xv. p. 21. 

9 See the forty-seventh canon improperly assigned to the third 
Council of Carthage, but belonging to one holden in a later period. 
Vid. Preface to Apocrypha, p. 508, note \ 

1 Chap. iv. 38. et August, de Civit. Dei, lib. xviii. c. xxxvi. 



OF THE FIRST BOOK OF ESDRAS. 515 

to be understood Christ. The book is also cited by 
others of the Fathers as a work entitled, the First Book 
of Esdras: as ascribed to him, and as a respectable 
work 2 ; but never as of equal authority with the cano- 
nical books 3 . St. Jerom, without scruple, pronounced 
this and the following books to be visionary and spu- 
rious 4 ; and it was rejected even by the Council of 
Trent, though it was suffered to continue in the printed 
editions as the second or third book of Ezra, till the 
publication of the Bible by Sixtus the Fifth, when it 
was placed apart from the canonical books 5 ; and not- 
withstanding Genebrard 6 still maintained its authen- 
ticity, the Romanists in general consider it as apocry- 
phal. It certainly could not have been written by 
Ezra, whose authentic work it, indeed, contradicts in 
many particulars ; since it has no pretensions to be 
revered as the production of an inspired person, although 
great part of it be extracted from the sacred writings. 

The name of Ezra was at all times particularly reve- 
renced by the Jews, who were accustomed in honour 
of his memory to remark, that he was worthy that the 
Law should have been given by his hands unto Israel, 

2 Cyprian Ep. 74. ad Pompeium, p. 141. edit. Par. 1726. Basil. 
Epist. ad Chilon. p. 129. torn. 3. edit. Par. 1730. Athan. Orat. 
iii. cont. Arian. p. 391. edit. Par. 1627. August, de Doct. Christ, 
lib. ii. c. viii. 

3 Joh. Driedo, in Cat. Script, lib. i. c. iv. ad Diffic. 4. 

4 Hieron. Epist. ad Domnion. et Rogatian. " Nee Apocryphorum 
tertii et quarti (Esdrae) Somniis delectetur,'.' says Jerom. 

5 In some old copies of the Latin Bibles, this and the succeeding 
book, as also the Prayer of Manasseh, were marked with non 
legilur : as an intimation that they were not to be publicly read in 
the church. 

6 Genebrard in Chron. ad an. 3730. p. 95, 96. 

l12 



516 OF THE FIRST BOOK OF ESDRAS. 

if Moses had not been before him. In consequence of 
this reputation, numberless suspected works were pub- 
lished at different times under his name ; and however 
they might at first, whether produced before or after 
Christ, have borne the palpable marks of forgery, they 
were yet received by the credulous and unlearned. If 
the boldness of the imposture provoked opposition, this 
was soon wearied and forgotten ; and the books gradually 
rose into reputation under the sanction of a great 
name 7 . 

The First Book of Esdras includes a period of about 
ninety years. The short historical sketch of the time 
which intervened between the celebration of the Pas- 
sover by Josiah, and the captivity of the Jews, as 
imparted in the first chapter of this book, is taken 
chiefly from the thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth chapters of 
the Second Book of Chronicles. The strange but 
lively story of the three competitors for the favour of 
Darius, which appears to have been introduced to re- 
commend and embellish the character of Zerubbabel 8 , 
might have been founded on some popular traditions, 
as it is related, though with some difference, in the 
account by Josephus; but it is certainly fabulous in 

7 Besides the books ascribed to Ezra in our Bibles, and other 
writings, before mentioned, (vid. Preface to Ezra,) Picus Mirandula 
professes to have read the Cabala of Esdras, written in seventy books, 
and informs us, that they contained many mysteries relating to 
Christianity. Sixtus the Fourth is said to have projected a trans- 
lation of them, but only three were finished at his death : the learned 
dispute concerning the character, and even the existence of these 
books. Vid. Mirand. Apol. p. 82. 2 Esd. xiv. 46. Fabricii Codex 
Pseudepig. Petr. Crinit. de Honest. Discip. lib. xxv. c. iii. Sixt. 
Senens. Bib. Sanct. lib. ii. Epiphan. de Pond, et Mens. § 10. 

8 Chap, iii, iv. v. 



OF THE FIRST BOOK OF ESDRAS. 517 

most of its particulars, and could not concern Zerubba- 
bel, who at the period assigned was at Jerusalem 9 . 

The rest of the work, which is chiefly compiled from 
the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, is disfigured by many 
improbable and contradictory additions, and by circum- 
stances which appear to have been designedly intro- 
duced in order to disguise and vary the relation 1 . It 
contains, perhaps, nothing exceptionable with respect 
to doctrine or precept ; but its accounts are so incor- 
porated with falsehood, that the compilers of our 
Liturgy have not appointed any selections from it to 
be read in the service of the church. Many particu- 
lars, indeed, interspersed through the book, and too 
numerous here to be produced 2 , are utterly inconsis- 
tent with probability, chronology, and the relations of 
Scripture. From fictitious circumstances, however, 
some instruction may be drawn, though we cannot but 
regret that the author of the fine encomium on truth 3 , 
should have so departed from its principles as to fabri- 
cate a work under the assumed character of an inspired 
writer. 

9 Ezra ii. 2. Josephus erroneously says, and perhaps on the 
authority of this book, that Zerubbabel returned from Jerusalem to 
Darius. Vid. de Antiq. lib. xi. c. iii. p. 472. 

1 Comp. chap. ii. 1 — 5. with Ezra i. 1. 2. Chap. iv. 48. with 
Ezra ii. 7. Chap. iv. 43. 46. with Ezra vi. 1. Chap. iv. 44. 57. 
with chap. vi. 18, 19. and Ezra i. 7 — 11. Chap. v. 40. with Ne- 
hem. viii. 9. Chap. v. 47, 48. with Ezra iii. 1 — 3. viii. 17. with 
Ezra i. 11, &c. 

2 Calmet et Arnald. 

3 Chap. iv. 38 — 40. The learned Thorndyke by truth, here spoken 
of, understands the truth which God by his law had declared to his 
people, and supposes Zerubbabel to have intended to encourage the 
King to protect it by countenancing the building of the temple. Vid. 
Thorndyke's Epilogue, ch. xxxiv. p. 212. 



OF THE 



SECOND BOOK OF ESDRAS. 



Some writers have conceived that this work was com- 
posed by the same person that assumed the character 
of Ezra in the preceding book ; but though it be equally 
uncertain by whom and at what period each book was 
produced, there is reason to think that they were not 
both derived from one person, since they differ in style, 
and have no connexion or agreement with each other. 
Each author, however, has borrowed the same title ; 
and each has inserted a genealogy in the character of 
Ezra; with some difference, indeed, in the accounts, 
but both with variation from the lineage furnished by 
the inspired writer in his authentic book K 

The Second Book of Esdras is not now to be found 
in any Hebrew or Greek manuscripts. Some suppose 
it to have been originally written in the Hebrew and 

1 The accounts in 1 Esdras viii. 1, 2. and in 2 Esdras i. 1 — 3. 
differ from each other, and both disagree with the genealogy inserted 
in Ezra vii. 1. They were, however, all designed for the same per- 
son, as is evident from the general agreement of the six first names ; 
and probably the variations arise only from accidental corruptions, 
or from different modes of calculation ; indeed, the author of the 
Second Book of Esdras enumerates three names more in this gene- 
alogy than do the authors of the preceding books. 



OF THE SECOND BOOK OF ESDRAS. 519 

Chaldee 2 , and thence to have been translated into 
Greek and Latin. It is now extant in a few Latin 
copies, 3 and in an Arabic version 4 . A translation has 
also been made from the Ethiopic language by the 
Archbishop of Cashel, and published at Oxford in 1820. 
This begins at the third chapter, and differs in many 
respects from the Latin and Arabic copies, as they 
differ from each other, though the Arabic copy also 
omits the first two chapters, and two at the end. It 
appears to be a work not composed before the fourth 
century. It is generally maintained that it could not 
have been the genuine production of Ezra, as it seems 
to bear some intrinsic marks of having been composed 
after his time, and, indeed, after the period at which 
the prophetic spirit is reputed to have ceased among 
the Jews 5 ; notwithstanding, also, the fine spirit of 

2 Fabricius Codex Pseud. Vet. Test. vol. iii. p. 189. and Lee's 
Dissert, vol. i. p. 153. 

3 Calmet states that it was first printed in the Latin edition of 
Nuremberg, published in 1521. Dissert, sur le Quatrieme Livre 
d'Esdras, note 1. 

4 In the Arabic version it is called the First Book of Esdras. This 
version differs much from the Latin copies, and has many interpola- 
tions ; one particularly concerning the intermediate state of the soul. 

5 Ch. i. 39, 40. The author, in the last of these verses, speaks of 
Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi ; though the former did not, probably, 
flourish as prophets till after the return from the captivity, and Ma- 
lachi not till above 100 years after the decree of Cyrus. Ezra, 
indeed, if he had been the author of the book, might, as speaking 
prophetically, have mentioned, even in the captivity, these prophets 
by name ; but besides other reasons that tend to prove that the work 
was written after his time, it may be remarked, that the Prophets 
are here enumerated, not according to the order of the Hebrew 
canon, but according to that of the Septuagint. Vid. also, ch. xv. 
46, where Asia is mentioned, a name probably not known in the 
time of Ezra. 



520 OF THE SECOND BOOK OF ESDRAS. 

piety that pervades the work, and the author's confi- 
dent assumption of the prophetic character, his preten- 
sions to inspiration have not been admitted. It is not, 
indeed, probable that an inspired writer would have 
claimed a name to which he was not entitled ; or have 
interspersed in his work those extravagant conceits and 
apparent inconsistencies which occasionally disfigure 
and degrade this production. The book, it is true, 
contains much sublime instruction ; many animated 
exhortations to righteousness, and many sentiments not 
unworthy of the sacred source from whence they are 
related to have flowed. It represents Ezra as com- 
manded to remonstrate with the people for their dis- 
obedience ; and on their contempt of God's words, as 
addressing himself to the heathen, whom he enjoins to 
prepare for that " everlasting light " which should shine 
upon them. It describes the Prophet as pleading with 
submissive piety to remove the afflictions of his captive 
countrymen; as anxiously inquiring why the chosen 
people of the Almighty should suffer severer punish- 
ments for their sins than the heathen for whom they 
were seemingly rejected 6 ; as lamenting the effects of 
entailed corruption 7 ; as bewailing the evil propensities 
and condition of men, of whom a few only appear to 
be marked out and distinguished as objects of Divine 
favour 8 . He is said to have been honoured with 
visions and Divine communications in answer to those 
inquiries. The boasted revelations are described in a 
lofty and prophetic style : in a manner similar to that 

6 Ch. iii. 28. iv. 23—31. 

7 Ch. iii. 20 — 22. iv. 30 — 32. vii. 48. The author speaks, in- 
deed, of the extent of Adam's transgression with a clearness that 
argues an acquaintance with the evangelical account of its effects. 

8 Chap. iv. 12. vii. 4—54. ix. 15, 16. 



OF THE SECOND BOOK OF ESDRAS. 521 

adopted by Daniel, Ezekiel, and St. John. They dis- 
countenance, with becoming dignity, the presumptuous 
curiosity and complaints of man 9 ; contain very ele- 
vated descriptions of God's attributes l ; and rest the 
equity of his proceedings on the projected decisions of 
a future judgment. They impart consolatory assur- 
ances of returning favour, and represent, in an interest- 
ing vision, Jerusalem re-established on its foundations 2 . 
The angel, likewise, in these pretended visions, reveals 
many striking prophecies relative to the Messiah 3 ; the 
destruction of the Roman empire 4 ; and the fate of 
Egypt ; of Babylon 5 , and of other nations, mixed with 

9 Ch. iv. 5 — 11. comp. with John iii. 12. 

1 Ch. vii. 62—70. viii. 20—23. 39. xvi. 54—63. 

2 Chap. ix. x. 27, &c. 

3 Chap. ii. 34 — 48. et infra, p. 527, and note. 

4 Chap. xi. xii. The prophecies relative to the eagle might have 
been written by an uninspired writer acquainted with Daniel's book, 
either before or after Christ. The prophecy concerning the lion, 
which denounced destruction to the eagle, is said by the Arabic 
translator, to be " a prophecy of the Lord the Messiah." Vid. ch. 
xi. 37. 

5 Chap. xv. xvi. In some ancient copies these two last chapters 
seem to constitute a distinct book, called the Fifth book of Esdras, 
and divided into seven chapters. Lee thinks that they have all the 
characters of antiquity, and resemble the prophetic style. They 
speak of the destruction of nations, and of some general troubles 
from which the faithful only should be delivered. The twenty-ninth 
and following verses of the fifteenth chapter, have been thought to 
relate to the victories of the Saracens ; and Lee, by dragons, under- 
stands those who lived in dens and caverns of the earth. Vid. Lee 
p. 45. and 156, with note annexed to the Fifth Book of Esdras. 
None of the pretended prophecies, however, in this book, are so clear 
and original (except those relating to the Messiah, which were pro- 
bably written after the time of Christ) that they might not have been 
framed by an uninspired writer conversant with the prophetic books. 



522 OF THE SECOND BOOK OF ESDRAS. 

circumstances of very obscure and uncertain interpreta- 
tion 6 , 

So far there appears nothing incompatible with the 
character of Ezra ; and we should be inclined to con- 
sider the work as his production, or at least as a com- 
pilation of some fragments written by him, were it not 
for the deficiency of external sanctions ; and for the 
intermixture of particulars seemingly inconsistent with 
the character and period of that inspired writer. The 
author's pretensions indeed, to inspiration, as well as to 
the name of Ezra, are destroyed by many false and 
absurd particulars 7 , which are so incorporated with the 
work, that they cannot always be considered as subse- 
quent interpolations. The book was never admitted 
into the Hebrew canon ; and there is no sufficient 
authority to prove that it was ever extant in the He- 
brew language 8 . Its pretended prophecies are not pro- 
duced in evidence by Christian writers, striking as such 
testimony must have been, if genuine ; and the book 
was never publicly or generally acknowledged either in 

6 Chap. v. 1— 13. vi. 7—28. 

7 Chap. iv. 44, 45. viii. 17. compare with Ezra i. It. v. 5. vii. 
11. xiii. 46, 47. Basnage, Hist, of the Jews, b. vii. ch. ii. Chap, 
xiv. 10—12. St. Cyprian and others, who believed that the end of 
the world was near at hand in their time, are supposed to have 
derived the notion from this and other passages in this book. Vid. 
Cyprian, ad Demetrian. p. 216. edit. Paris, 1726. George Hakewill 
on Providence, London, 1627. fol. Freinshem. Orat. vii. and ix. 
See other idle tales in chap. xiv. 21 — 44. 

8 Lee supposes that Picus Mirandula, and Leo Judseus had seen, 
and relates, that Petrus Galatinus had heard of an Hebrew copy ; as 
also, that Scaliger had boasted of having the booh or boohs of Esdras 
in the Syriac ; but the presumptions of its having ever existed in the 
Hebrew are but slender. Lee's Dissertat. p. 152 and 153. 



OF THE SECOND BOOK OF ESDRAS. 523 

the Greek or Latin church 9 ; nor was it ever inserted 
in the sacred catalogue, by either Councils or Fathers ; 
but is expressly represented as apocryphal by St. Je- 
rom, who describes it as rejected by the church 1 . 

The many wild and preposterous fancies with which 
the work abounds, seem to prove that it was the pro- 
duction of a Rabbinical Jew 2 . The learned Lee is 
inclined to think that it was written or compiled by an 
Egyptian Jew before the time of Christ ; and it has 
been observed in support of this opinion, that it is 
cited or referred to as a Jewish book by very ancient 
writers 3 ; as farther that it may be supposed to treat 
of that traditional and mysterious knowledge which 
was said to have been derived as an oral explication of 
the Law from Moses; and which was taught in the 
Alexandrian school of the Jews. He observes, that 
in many particulars it resembles other apocryphal 
books, undoubtedly written before the time of our 

9 Bib. Sac. Sixt. V. and Clement. VIII. 

1 Hieron. Epist. 38. p. 283. torn. 4. et Praefat. in Esdram. In 
answer to Vigilantius, who had produced some passages from this 
book, he says, " Tu vigilans dormis, et dormiens scribis: et proponis 
mihi Librum Apocryphum qui sub nomine Esdrae, a te et similibus 
tui legitur." Vid. also Athan. Synop. de Lib. Esd. Wolfius Bib. 
Heb. torn. i. n. 1768. p. 941. and torn. ii. p. 194. 196. 209. et lib. 
viii. cap. xliv. edit. Par. 1627. 

2 Chap. iii. 6. 19. v. 5. 52—55. vi. 42. 44. 49—52. 55. Ray- 
nold's Praelect. 27. See also chap. vi. 55 — 58. 

3 Tertull. cont. Marcion. Carm. lib. iv. line 198, 199. Clemens 
Alex. Strom, lib. iii. p. 556. et Euseb. lib. vi. c. xxv. Ambrose de 
Bono Mortis, c. x. § 45. p. 407. c. xi. p. 410. torn. i. edit. Paris, 
1686. et lib. ii. in Lucam, p. 1292. St. Ambrose cites ch. vii. 32. 
as scripture, and he professes to cite on this occasion from Ezra ; in 
order to show that the heathens had drawn their best maxims from 
our books. 



524 OF THE SECOND BOOK OF ESDRAS. 

Saviour 4 ; and that there is some ground for supposing 
that the book of Enoch 5 , and that of the Shepherd of 
Hernias 6 , might have proceeded from the same author 
as the present work. 

On a supposition that this work was written before 
the period of Christ, we must admit that those parti- 
culars which appear to be prophetic of circumstances 
relative to the Messiah and his kingdom, were col- 
lected from an acquaintance with the inspired books 

4 As the two last chapters of Tobit, and likewise the books of 
Baruch and Wisdom. The book bears, likewise, some resemblance 
to passages in the ancient Targums, as those of Jonathan and On- 
kelos. See Kidder's Demonstration of the Messiah, and Allix's 
Defence of the Unity and Distinction of the Divine Nature. 

5 It has been imagined that this book is cited by Jude, verse 14. 
if not by St. Peter, and that an interpretation is borrowed from it by 
the Targumist Jonathan ; but, as Fabricius observes, Jude does not 
cite any book, but says only Enoch prophesied. The book of Enoch 
is supposed to have existed in the age of Alexander Polyhistor, 
about 100 years before the time of Christ. What is now so called 
is a forgery, for Fabricius informs us, that Postilus mentioned a 
book under that name at Rome, written in the Abyssinian tongue, 
and said to have been brought from Ethiopia. Mr. Bruce, when in 
Abyssinia, procured a copy of a book under this title, which he pre- 
sented to the King of France for the Royal Library at Paris. Dr. 
Woide who had studied the Ethiopic and Coptic languages, went to 
Paris several times on purpose to examine this manuscript ; but on 
conversing with the late Granville Sharp, and considering the account 
of Fabricius, Dr. Woide was convinced that this manuscript was 
only another copy of the same spurious work. For this information, 
as well as for some corrections, the author is indebted to that emi- 
nent scholar and most valuable man, the late Granville Sharp. 

6 The visions of Hennas much resemble those of Esdras in many- 
striking particulars. They are thought to have been written about 
seventy- five years after the vulgar sera. The book of Hermas was 
highly esteemed in the Greek, and hardly known in the Western 
church, though now extant only in Latin. Vid. Lee's Dis. p. 138. 

3 



OF THE SECOND BOOK OF ESDRAS. 525 

of the Old Testament; or that the work had been 
interpolated by some writer who lived under the Gos- 
pel dispensation 7 . But it exhibits, in every part, such 
a manifest resemblance to the doctrines, sentiments, 
and expressions, of the evangelical writers; and corre- 
sponds so much with passages of the New Testament 
as to particulars interwoven in the contexture of the 
book ; that we must suppose it to have been written 
after the publication of the Gospel, unless we admit 
that the evangelical writers have borrowed more from 
this apocryphal book, than from any canonical book of 
the Old Testament, since in none except in the Psalms, 
can we discover such frequent coincidence of thought 
and expression 8 . The author also treats so clearly of 

7 Lee seems to insinuate that the book might have been corrupted 
by the Cerinthians, or even by Cerinthus himself, who in his reli- 
gious system, combined with the doctrines of Christ the opinions of 
the Jews, and the errors of the Gnostics. Some, indeed, have 
imagined, that this book is the very apocalypse of that heretic 
referred to by the ancients, as it seems to contain some notions 
favourable to the Cerinthian heresy ; and Cerinthus is related to have 
written a kind of apocalypse upon the model of St. John's Reve- 
lation. Vid. Lee's Dis. p. 87. Dr. Allix supposed that the second 
book of Esdras was the production of a Jew who had adopted the 
opinions of Montanus, a rigid and enthusiastic sectary of the second 
century, who predicted calamities and destruction to the Roman 
empire. Vid. Allix de Usu et Praestant. Num. Mosheim's Eccles. 
Hist. cent. 2. part ii. c. 5. § 23, 24. 

Com. ch. i. 30. with Matt, xxiii. 37. Ch. i. 32. with Matt. 
xxiii. 34. and Luke xi. 49, 50. where the Evangelist refers pro- 
bably to some prophecy now lost. Ch. i. 33. with Luke xiii. 35, 
&c. Ch. i. 37. with John xx. 29. Ch. ii. 8, 9. with Mark vi. 11, 
&c. Ch. ii. 11. with Luke xvi. 9. Ch. ii. 12. with Rev. ii. 7. xxii. 
2. 14. Ch. ii. 13. with Matt. vii. 7. and Matt. xxiv. 22. and ch. 
xxv. 34. and Mark xiii. 37. Ch. ii. 16. with John v. 28, 29. Ch. 
ii. 26. with John xvii. 12. Ch. iv. 21. with John iii. 31, 32. Ch. 



526 OF THE SECOND BOOK OF ESDRAS. 

particulars brought to light by the Gospel dispensation; 
pourtrays so expressively and characteristically our 
Saviour, who is imaged out as " the Son of God, 
exalted on Mount Sion 9 , crowning and giving palms 
to them who having confessed the name of God, had 
put off the mortal clothing ;" he describes likewise so 
fully the character and comprehensive design of Christ's 
kingdom ] , and the death of our Saviour 2 ; and speaks 
so distinctly of a resurrection and future judgment 3 , 
that he must have been enlightened by divine inspira- 

iv. 28. with Matt. xiii. 30. Ch. iv. 30. with Matt. xiii. 30. 39. Ch. 
iv. 31, 32. with Mark iv. 28, 29. Ch. v. 1. with Luke xviii. 8. Ch. 
v. 2. with Matt. xxiv. 12. Ch. v. 2, 3. with John xv. 1. Ch. vi. 23. 
with Matt. xxiv. 31. Ch. vi. 24. with Luke xii. 53. Ch. vi. 25. 
with Matt. xxiv. 13. Ch. vi. 26. with Matt. xiv. 28. Ch. vii. 7. 
with Matt. vii. 14. Ch. vii. 55. with Matt. xiii. 43. Ch. viii. 3. 
with Matt. xx. 16. and vii. 14. Ch. viii. 22. with John xvii. 17. 
Ch. ix. 3. Matt. xxiv. 6, 7. xiii. 32. with John vii. 19. Ch. ix. 37. 
with Matt. v. 18. Ch. xv. 4. with John iii. 36. and viii. 24. Ch. 
xvi. 18. with Matt. xxiv. 8. Ch. xvi. 53, 54. 76. with Luke xvi. 
15. Ch. iii. 11. with 1 Pet. iii. 20. Ch. vii. 64. with 2 Pet. iii. 15. 
Ch. viii. 39. with 1 Pet. i. 17. Ch. viii. 59. with 2 Pet. iii. 9. Ch. 
ix. 15. with 1 Pet. iv. 18. and Matt. vii. 13. Ch. ii. 41. with 
2 Thess. ii. 13. Comp. also ch. v. 4. with Rev. vii. 10. 12. See 
also, the book of Revelation passim, and many other collated 
references in Lee, p. 124 — 127. 

9 Ch. ii. 34—36. comp. with John x. 11—14. and Matt. xi. 29. 
Esd. ii. 42—48. comp. with Matt. x. 32. xvi. 16. Luke i. 35. 
1 Pet. v. 4. and 1 Cor. xv. 53. Esd. vii. 28. comp. with Luke i. 
31. Esd. xiii. 1 — 38. comp. with Matt. xxiv. 30. and xxv. 31. 
Vid. also, Esd. xiv. 9. xv. 6. 

1 Ch. ii. 34 — 41. Ch. ii. 18, 19. where, by the twelve trees and 
twelve fountains were designed, probably, the twelve apostles. 

2 Ch. vii. 29. 

3 Ch. ii. 16. 23. 31. iv. 42. vi. 20—28. vii, 31—35. comp with 
John v. 25. 29. and Matt. xvi. 27. and xxv. 31. Vid. also ch. vii. 
42—45.55. viii. 61. ix. 10 — 13. xiv. 35. 



OF THE SECOND BOOK OF ESDRAS. 527 

tion, if he lived previously to the promulgation of the 
Gospel doctrines. 

That the book was written after the appearance of 
Christ, will be deemed farther probable if we consider 
the particulars of that passage in which the author de- 
clares, in the name of the Almighty, that " Jesus 4 , his 
Son, should be revealed with those that be with him ; 
and that they that remain should rejoice within four 
hundred years ; that after these years should his Son 
Christ die, and all men that have life ;" for it is not 
probable that an uninspired writer, however conversant 
with the prophetic books, should have been able to 
etch out a prophecy so clear and descriptive. 

There appears then to be reason, on a collective con- 
sideration of these circumstances, to suppose that the 
book, or at least that the greatest part of it, was pro- 
duced after the promulgation of the Gospel, possibly 
by a converted Jew. The work is, however, of too 
mixed and mysterious a character to authorize any 
positive determination. It is a collection of pretended 
prophecies ; cabalistical fancies ; and allusions to evan- 
gelical particulars. Amidst spurious fabrications, and 

4 Ch. vii. 28, 29. The name of Jesus is wanting in the Arabic 
Paraphrase and in the Ethic-pic version (of which a translation was 
published by Dr. Laurence in 1821) ; but it must have been in the 
ancient manuscripts, as particularly in the Latin copies in the time 
of St. Ambrose, which was about 700 years prior to the supposed 
date of the Laudean manuscript. This name, though equivalent to 
the word Redeemer, is no where applied to the Messiah in the Old 
Testament. Vid. Matt. i. 21. The word Christ is synonymous 
with that of the Messiah, or the Anointed ; which words are often 
used by the Prophets in predictions respecting our Saviour. Vid. 
1 Sam. ii. 35. Psalm ii. 2. Dan. ix. 25. The seventy in these 
places translate Meshiach, by XpiaroQ. 



528 OF THE SECOND BOOK OF ESDRAS. 

passages transcribed from the Gospel, it may contain 
fragments of works written before the time of Christ 5 ; 
and many writers have considered it as a compilation 
of pieces, of which some, at least, may have been the 
genuine production of Ezra. 

Among the various opinions that have been enter- 
tained concerning this book, some have imagined that 
it might have been composed soon after the destruction 
of Jerusalem, by a Christian writer; who, as was cus- 
tomary among the ancients, might have assumed a bor- 
rowed title, not with intention to impose on the world ; 
but to exhibit under the name of Ezra, as that of a 
great doctor of the Law, a specimen of what might be 
said on the principles of the Jewish synagogue, con- 
cerning the more inward and spiritual religion that had 
been concealed from common observation under the 
veil of Moses ; and that the author might design to 
develope the more secret wisdom of God in his govern- 
ment of the world, and of his church ; with the more 
notable events relative to the introduction and esta- 
blishment of the kingdom of the Messiah, in order to 
facilitate the reception of the Gospel and its mysteries. 

It is probable, that the author's intention was to 
promote the success of Christianity ; and Calmet has 
conjectured, that he lived during the time of some 
persecution of the Christians, whom he appears desirous 
of exciting to faith and fortitude 6 . But however 

5 Lee conceives the two first chapters to be an extrinsic work. 
He considers them as a fragment of some book held sacred among 
the Egyptian Jews, though not admitted into the canon. They are 
not in the Arabic version, nor in some of the most ancient Latin 
copies. Lee's Diss. p. 54, 
Ch. ii. 44-47. 



OF THE SECOND BOOK OF ESDRAS. 529 

pious the design of the author, it will not apologize for 
the guilt of endeavouring to impose a spurious, for an 
inspired work on the world ; and for the presumption 
of speaking in the name and with the authority of God. 
The work may, nevertheless, be admired as a produc- 
tion of the most curious and interesting character ; as 
A^aluable for many devout and instructive sentiments, 
and for precepts modelled on the perfection of Christian 
morality 7 . It may be admired, likewise, notwithstand- 
ing the defects of translation, for the beauties of its 
composition ; for its lively and elegant illustrations, 
and for that majestic eloquence which breaks forth 
through the disadvantages of a barbarous Latin trans- 
lation. It contains passages of questionable tendency 8 . 
The Romish church, though it admit not its canonical 
authority, has adopted some passages from it into its 
offices 9 ; and it is properly suffered to continue in our 
Bibles, as a profitable book if discreetly and cautiously 
used, but not as having any authority in point of doc- 
trine. It may be observed, however, in vindication of 
the book, even in that respect, at least in one instance, 
that the Roman Catholics who have endeavoured to 
countenance the notions of purgatory by the authority 
of this writer, have perverted his words : for the pas- 
sage in which he speaks, agreeably to the representa- 
tion of St. John \ of the souls of the righteous, as set 
apart in expectation of God's final judgment, does not 
make any mention of purification, or of their being 
placed in a state of expiatory punishment. 

7 Ch. ii. 20—23. iv. 7. 8 Ch. viii. 32, 33. 

9 2 Esdras ii. 36, 37. Missa in Fer. post Pentecostem. Miss. 
Rom. p. 316. 

1 Chap. iv. 35 — 41. comp. with Rev. vi. 9 — 11. 

M m 



530 OF THE SECOND BOOK OF ESDRAS. 

Clemens Alexandrinus has quoted 2 in his explication 
of Daniel's prophecy, a passage as from the Book of 
Esdras, which is no longer to be found in this or the 
preceding book ; if it ever existed in this, it must have 
tended still further to prove that the book was written 
after the appearance of Christ. The words of Clemens 
may be thus rendered : " For it is written in Esdras, 
and thus was Christ the King of the Jews ruler in 
Jerusalem, after the accomplishment of the seven 
weeks ; and in the sixty-two weeks all Judaea was in 
peace, and was without wars ; and the Lord our Christ, 
the most Holy, being come, and having fulfilled the 
vision and prophecy (Prophet), was anointed in the 
flesh, by the Spirit of his Father." 

2 Clem. Alex. Strom, lib. i. p. 394. edit. Potter. 



OF THE 



BOOK OF TOBIT, 



This Book was probably written by, or at least com- 
piled from the memoirs of Tobit and Tobias l : whom 
Raphael, the angel, had commanded to record the 
events of their lives 2 . The work appears to have been 
begun by Tobit ; who in the Greek, Hebrew, and 
Syriac editions, speaks in the first person to the fourth 
chapter ; and by whom other parts in the book, as the 
prayer in the thirteenth chapter, are said to have been 
composed : what he left unfinished was probably com- 
pleted by his son ; the two last verses of the book 
being afterwards added by some compiler 3 , who di- 
gested the materials into their present form. 

It is uncertain, whether this work was originally 
written in the Hebrew or in the Chaldaic language 4 , 

1 The Greek calls the father Tw/3»)r (Tobet) or T(o(3lr (Tobit) 
and the son Twfjiag (Tobias) in the Chaldee both are called noiQ 
(Tobija). 

2 Chap. xii. 20. 

3 It is called fii(3\og tCjv \6yojv, " The Book of the Words" or of 
the acts of Tobit, ch. i. I. 

4 Origen, while he seems to speak of Tobit as Scripture, states it 
to be notorious, that the Jews did not use Tobit and Judith, nor 
even had them in their language among the apocryphal books. Vid. 
Homil. xxvii. in Numeros. Epist. ad African, torn. i. p. 26. edit. 
Paris, 1733. et de Oratione, p. 220. The names of the angels, and 

m m 2 



532 OF THE BOOK OF TOBIT. 

with both of which Tobit and his family must have 
been well acquainted. The Hebrew copies published 
by Minister and Fagius, appear to be translations com- 
paratively modern 5 ; but as the book was extant in 
the Chaldaic language in the time of St. Jerom, it is 
possible that it was originally written in that language, 
though no Chaldaic copy be now extant. The most 
ancient copy that is known to exist, is a Greek version 
which was probably made by some Hellenistical Jew 6 , 
and before the time of Theodotion, as it is quoted by 
Polycarp 7 ; from this our English translation, and pro- 
bably the Syriac version was made : as also the Latin 
version, which was in use before the time of St. Jerom. 
All the versions of this book vary so much from each 
other, that they must have suffered many corruptions. 
St. Jerom's Latin version especially, which he pro- 
of the months, are of Chaldasan derivation ; but these might have 
been equally used by a Jew, as the Chaldaean expressions and reckon- 
ings were generally adopted during and after the captivity of the 
Jews. Vid. Bereschit, Rabb. et Talmud. Hieron. Prsefat. in Tob. 
Huet. Dem. Evan. Pro. 4. p. 169. 

5 The Hebrew obtained by Fagius from Constantinople, and pub- 
lished by him, seems to have been translated from the Greek ; that 
of Munster, which he professes to have found in Germany, was pro- 
bably rendered chiefly from the Vulgate. They both, however, vary 
from the copies from which they are supposed to have been respec- 
tively translated. Huet was in possession of a Hebrew manuscript, 
which differed from both ; and especially from that of Fagius. Vid. 
Fabric. Bib. Graec. Huet. prop. 4. p. 1G8. et Calmet. Pref. sur 
Tobie. 

6 Hieron. Praef. in Tobiam. Whiston's Sac. Hist. vol. i. 

7 Polycarp, Epist. ad Philip. § 10. Thi& Greek translation of 
Tobit was composed, however, long after the period assigned to the 
history, for the sixth verse of the eighth chapter is transcribed almost 
verbatim from the Septuagint version of Gen. ii. 18. 



OF THE BOOK OF TOBIT. 533 

fesses to have translated from the Chaldee, differs so 
much from the Greek, that it has been supposed to 
have been drawn from a more extended history of 
Tobit 8 . But if we consider that St. Jerom was at that 
time, by his own account, ignorant of the Chaldee, and 
that he executed the work by the assistance of a Jew 
in one day 9 , we may attribute many of the adventitious 
particulars to inaccuracy, and to the redundancies that 
must have resulted from verbal circumlocution. The 
Greek is probably most entitled to respect, and on that 
account it was preferred by the translators of our 
Bible l ; and, indeed, there are some mistakes in the 
Latin, which, if not rejected, would entirely destroy all 
the authority which the book might claim, and make 
it utterly inconsistent with the times to which it is 
assigned. This, however, is canonized by the church of 
Rome. 

The book, if it ever existed in the Hebrew language, 
was certainly never in the Hebrew canon, and has no 
pretensions to be considered as the production of an 
inspired writer. It was probably composed after the 
closing of the canon ; but, perhaps, before the time of 
our Saviour, though, as far as may be argued from the 

8 Fabian Justiniani supposed that there must have been two origi- 
nals ; and Serrarius contends for three. But the varieties arise from 
corruptions in the copies. Vid. Justinian. Praef. in Tob. He men- 
tions an Arabic version which corresponds much with the Vulgate, 
and which was probably made from it. 

9 " Unius Diei laborem arripui, et quicquid ille mihi Hebraicis 
verbis expressit, hoc ego accito notario sermonibus Latinis exposui," 
says St. Jerom, vid. Praef. in Tobiam. We are not, therefore, to look 
for accuracy in a translation so made. 

1 Coverdale's translation appears to have been made from that of 
St. Jerom, altered as in the Vulgate. 



534 OF THE BOOK OF TOB1T. 

silence of Philo and Josephus, it does not seem to have 
been known to those historians, and it is not cited in 
the New Testament. It is not to be found in the most 
ancient catalogues of the canonical books, as furnished 
by Melito, Origen, and the council of Laodicea ; and 
it may be added that Athanasius \ Cyril of Jerusalem 2 , 
Gregory Nazianzen 3 , Epiphamus 4 , Hilary 5 , and St. 
Jerom 6 , do not include it in the sacred code. 

Though Tobit has no canonical authority, it is a book 
respectable for its antiquity and contents. In the 
Alexandrian manuscript, and in the best editions of 
the Septuagint 7 , it is placed among the hagiograpbical 
books ; and it is cited from the Greek with respect by 
Polycarp 8 , Clemens Alexandrinus 9 , Chrysostom and 
other writers 10 of considerable authority ; and some 
Councils, as those of Carthage n , Florence 12 , and 

1 Athan. Epist. 39. et in Synop. torn. ii. p. 129. edit. Paris, 1698. 

2 Cyrill. Catech. 4. § 35. p. 69. edit. Paris, 1720. 

3 Greg. Nazianz. Carm. de veris et german. Scrip, c. 33. torn. ii. 
p. 98. 

4 Epiphan. de Mensur. et Ponder, apud Var. Sacr. per Le Moyne. 
torn. i. p. 477. edit. Lugd. Batav. 1694. 

6 Hilar. Prolog, in Psalm. 

6 Hieron. Praefat. in Libros Salomonis, torn. i. p. 940. 

7 Comp. p. 504-5 of this work. 

8 Polycarp. Epist. ad Philipp. p. 60. edit. T. Smith. 

9 Clemen. Alex. Strom, vol. i. lib. ii. p. 503. edit. Potter. 

10 Clem. Constit. Apost. lib. i. c. i. lib. iii. c. xv. lib. vii. c. ii. 
Cyprian, passim. August, de Doct. Christ, lib. iii. c. xviii. torn. iii. 
et Spec, de Tobias Libro, torn. iii. p. 564. Ambros. Lib. de Tobia. 
Hilar, in Psalm cxxix. n. 7. Basil, &c. 

11 Concil. Carthag. iii. An. 397. Can, 47. (see p. 508-9. n. 7 of this 
work,) also Concil. Hippon. A. 393. Can. 38. Vid. also, P. Inno- 
cent I. Epist. 3. ad Exuper. et Cosin's Schol. Hist. § 83. 

12 Cosin's ch. xvi. § 159, 160. See p. 509. n. 2 of this work. 



OF THE BOOK OF TOBIT. 535 

Trent 1 , are adduced as esteeming it canonical. An 
erroneous notion prevailed, (upon the alleged autho- 
rity of Jerom) that it had been classed by the Jews 
among the Hagiographa 2 . 

Houbigant imagines, that the only reason why it was 
not admitted into the canon was, because, being a pri- 
vate history, there were probably but few copies ; and 
that these being kept at Ecbatana, in Media, where 
Tobias retired, the work, though then written, might 
not have been known to Ezra : but, indeed, if it had 
been then written, and known to the compiler of the 
canon, it could have had no title to be classed among 
the canonical books as of the same authority with them. 
The author does not pretend to prophesy himself ; but 
collects only what had been delivered by the Prophets 3 ; 
describing the fate of Nineveh 4 ; the dispersion of his 
countrymen ; the destruction of Jerusalem, and of the 

1 Concil. Trid. Sess. 4. 

2 Hieron. Praef. in Libros Solomonis et in Tobiam, torn. i. p. 1158. 
edit. Par. 1693. In some corrupt copies of this last preface, St. 
Jerom is represented to have said that the Jews reckoned Tobit 
among the Hagiographa ; but the word Hagiographa is probably, as 
many of the Romanists allow, a corruption, and substituted for 
Apocrypha. Those, however, who contend for the authenticity of 
the expression, must at least admit, that Hagiographa is used only 
in an inferior sense ; for St. Jerom, in the same place, affirms, that 
the Jews excluded it from the catalogue of the Divine writings, and 
censured him for translating a book not in their canon. Vid. Cosin's 
Schol. Hist. § 73. p. 83. 

3 Chap. xiv. 4, 5. 

4 Grotius thinks that Jonas is inserted in chap. xiv. 4. 8. by mis- 
take for Nahum. But Jonah's prophecy, in ch. iii. 4. of his book, 
may be supposed to include the destruction of Nineveh by the Medes 
and Babylonians. Its accomplishment was protracted but not frus- 
trated. 



536 OF THE BOOK OF TOBIT. 

temple, in the same manner that Jonah and other Pro- 
phets had foretold them. 

There are no circumstances mentioned in this book 
which are inconsistent with the period in which Tobit 
is related to have lived 5 ; nor is there any internal 
objection to the supposition of its being compiled soon 
after the events therein described, or at least before 
the time of Christ. In the Vulgate, the temple of 
Jerusalem is spoken of as already burnt 6 ; and it has 
been supposed that part of T obit's prophetic assurance 
was drawn from the writings of Jeremiah ; but as in 
the Greek version, from which our translation is made, 
that destruction is spoken of prophetically 7 as yet to 
happen ; and as all the predictions which are inserted 
might have been drawn from Prophets who preceded 
the time of Tobit, there is no reason to dispute the an- 
tiquity ascribed to him or to his book 8 . From the same 
sacred source of the earlier Prophets, might have been 
derived those predictions which Tobit records relative 
to the calling of the Gentiles 9 ; and the restoration of 

5 It should be remarked, that Nebuchodonosor, mentioned in ch. 
xiv. 15, was Nabopolasser. Vid. Joseph. Antiq. lib. x.c. xi. comp. 
with lib. i. cont. Apion. § 19. et Juchasin. fol. 136, Assuerus was 
Astyages, or his son, Cyaxares of Herodotus. Nineveh was taken 
a.m. 3392. Vid. Prid. An. 612. Chapter on Nahum, in this work. 

6 Chap. xiv. 7. and xiii. 11. Yulgate. 

7 Chap. xiv. 4. drawn perhaps from Micah iii. 12. 

8 Aman, mentioned in chap. xiv. 10. was not Haman the proud 
enemy of Mordecai and the Jews, mentioned in the book of Esther, 
nor Judith's husband, but .some predecessor or contemporary of 
Tobit, with whose history we are unacquainted. 

9 Ch. xiii. 11. which perhaps alludes to the offering of the wise 
men, described in St. Matt. ii. 11. The prediction may be drawn 
from David's prophecy in Psalm lxxii. 10. of which the very words 



OF THE BOOK OF TOBIT. 537 

Jerusalem to a magnificence prefigurative of its future 
spiritual glory in the establishment of the Christian 
Church l . 

With respect to the history contained in this book, 
there is no sufficient reason to question its truth, at 
least as to the main particulars ; and the Jews do not 
appear to have entertained any doubts on the subject 2 . 
It is written with much simplicity, and with an air of 
truth. The characters are described with great sin- 
cerity and effect ; and the minute details of genealogy, 
of time, place, and personal circumstances 3 , while they 
heighten the interest, tend to demonstrate the truth 
and reality of the relation. Tobit, then, is to be con- 
sidered as a real character; he was born, probably, 

are introduced in the Hebrew copy published by Fagius. See also 
chap. xiv. 6, 7. which might be grounded on the prophecies in Micah 
v. 12. 14. Isaiah ii. 18. xxxi. 7- Zechar. xiii. 2, &c. 

1 Chap. xiii. 16 — 18. xiv. 5 — 8. which passages resemble some 
metaphorical descriptions of St. John. Yid. Rev. xxi. 10 — 27. xxii. 
3 — 6. but they were probably borrowed from Isa. liv. 11 — 17. 

2 Juchasin, Hieron. Epist. ad Chromat. et Heliod. Grot. Prcef. 
ad Tob. Vid. also Sixt. Senens. Bib. Sanct. lib. viii. 

3 Chap. v. 16. The mention of Tobias's dog has been frequently 
represented as a ludicrous and unnecessary particular. But there is 
often as much want of taste as of candour in criticism of this nature. 
The introduction of such incidental particulars is not unusual in the 
most admired works of antiquity. Vid. Odyss. lib. ii. 1. 11. iEneid. 
lib. viii. 1. 461-2. It deserves to be remarked, that in the eleventh 
chapter of the Vulgate, the dog is said to have run before, coming as 
it were a messenger ; and the Syriac version represents Anna to 
have first received the dog ; and, indeed, the Greek has been thought 
to intimate nearly as much, for it says, not that she saw Tobias 
himself, but Trpoaev6r\a£v abrbv hpyoyiEvov, " perceived that he was 
coming," as possibly by the dog. In this there is nothing low or 
ridiculous, but an incident familiar and elegant. Compare with 
Odyss. lib. xvii. 1. 300-4. 



538 OF THE BOOK OF TOBIT. 

during the reign of Ahaz ; he was of the tribe of Neph- 
thali, in the city of Thisbe 4 , in Upper Galilee ; and he 
was carried captive to Nineveh after the extinction of 
the kingdom of Israel, by Enemassar, or Salmanessar, 
about a.m. 3283 5 . 

The history of this captive, and of his family, is here 
related in a very interesting manner; it is enlivened 
with much variety of occurrence, and decorated by the 
display of many virtues. Some of the incidents, as the 
ministry of the angel, under false semblance and 
assumptions; the influence and defeat of the evil spirit, 
as well as the blindness and recovery of Tobit, have 
appeared so improbable to many writers, that they 
have chosen to consider the whole book merely as an 
instructive fiction 6 , designed to illustrate the relative 
and social charities of life, and to exhibit a pattern 
of virtue exercised in trials, and recompensed in this 
world ; but there are not any physical objections to 
the causes assigned either for the deprivation 7 or 

4 Thisbe was at the right hand (that is, to the south ; for the Jews, 
in the description of places, suppose the speaker to face the east) of 
Kadesh. Nephthali (KvSiiog, or Kvpiivg, or Kaciiog, rfjg Ne^QaXt) the 
same place, perhaps, with Cades, the capital of Nephthali, and pos- 
sibly the Cadytes of Herodotus. It was one of the three cities of 
refuge on the west side of the Jordan. The Vulgate represents 
Tobit to have been born at Nephthali. Vid. Calmet and Arnald in 
loc. 

5 The tribe of Nephthali in general had been carried into captivity 
about twenty years before by Tiglath-Pileser. Vid. 2 Kings xv. 29. 
The year of Tobit's death is uncertain ; all the copies differ. The 
Vulgate supposes him to have lived 102 years ; the Greek 158. Both 
accounts are erroneous. 

6 Paul Fagius. It has been compared to the Cyropaedia of 
Xenophon, and the Telemachus of Fenelon. 

7 Chap. ii. 10. Tobit appears to have slept in a court-yard, 






OF THE BOOK OF TOBIT. 539 

restoration 8 of sight to Tobit ; or if they are not natu- 
rally capable of producing such effects, they might 
still be miraculously rendered instruments in the hands 
of Providence. 

With respect to the agency of the angels, there is 
nothing inconsistent with reason, received opinions 9 , 
or Scripture *, in supposing a limited superintendence 
of superior beings. We know, indeed, that under the 
peculiar circumstances of the Jewish economy, the 
ministry of angels was manifestly employed in sub- 
serviency to God's designs ; and that particular per- 

because polluted by the dead body which he had buried, and his 
eyes might have been open accidentally, or affected when he 
awoke. Some suppose that the bird spoken of was a swallow, of 
which the excrement is stated by naturalists to be hot and acrimo- 
nious, and capable of causing blindness. Vide Plin. Hist. 1. xi. c. 
xxxvii. Gesner, Hist. Anim. 1. iii. 

8 It is uncertain of what species was the fish mentioned in this 
book. The gall of the fish called Callionymus has been supposed to 
be efficacious in removing specks and obstructions of the sight. Vid. 
Galen de Simplic. Medicam. Facult. lib. x. c. xii. ^Elian, lib. xiii. 
c. iv. Bochart Hieroz. par. ii. lib. v. c. xiv. Aldrovand. Ornithol. 
1. xvii. Vales de Sac. Philosoph. But this fish appears to be too 
small to correspond with the description of that of Tobit. Bochart 
contends for the Silurus, the sheat-fish, or sturgeon, called also, the 
Glanis. This naturalists describe as large and voracious. Vid. Ray 
and Johnston. Its liver is said to be famous for removing suffusions 
and dimness. Vid. Houbigant. But it is objected that this fish, as 
having no scales, could not be eaten consistently with the restrictions 
of the Levitical Law. Vid. Lev. xi. 10, 11. The livers of many 
other fishes may have the same sanative qualities. 

9 Hesiod Oper. et Dies, 1. 122-6. Plato de Legibus, lib. x. 
p. 887. torn. ii. edit. Serani. Apuleius de Deo Socratis. Buxtorf. 
Synag. Jud. c. x. Orphei Hymn, ad Mus. Plutarch in Brut. Bar- 
nab. Epist. c. xviii. 

1 Acts xii. 15. 



540 OF THE BOOK OF TOBIT. 

sonages were occasionally favoured with their familiar 
intercourse. It is likewise unquestionable, that before 
the power and malevolence of evil spirits were checked 
and restricted 'by the control of our Saviour, their 
open influence was experienced 2 ; and though in the 
accounts of this book, invisible beings be represented 
as endued with corporeal affections, and described 
under traditionary names of Chaldgean extraction ; and 
though the whole history of their proceedings as here 
recorded, be in some measure accommodated to vulgar 
conceptions 3 ; yet it would be a violation of all just 
rules of criticism, to consider the agency of these beings 
as a mere allegorical machinery. Indeed, the events 
recorded are so dependent on their supposed inter- 

2 Matt. iv. 24. viii. 28. Mark i. 32. Luke viii. 2. 

3 Cli. vi. 17. viii. 2, 3. The supposed effect of fumigation on 
demons was agreeable to vulgar notions. The ceremonies enjoined 
and performed, however, seem to savour of superstition, and to be 
inconsistent with the injunctions of Scripture. Josephus mentions a 
root called Baara, which, when drawn from the ground by a dog, was 
supposed to have some physical qualities which expelled evil spirits 
from the bodies of those whom they possessed. De Bello Jud. lib. 
vii. c. vi. p. 1308. edit. Hudson. See also Antiq. lib. viii. c. ii. p. 
339. Athenaeus, lib. x. p. 442. edit. Casaubon. The perfume to 
which an influence is ascribed in this book, was probably rendered 
efficacious by faith, prayer, and continence. See Matt. xvii. 21. and 
the burning of the entrails of the fish may have been enjoined rather 
as a sign and intimation, than as a physical cause of the defeat of 
the evil spirit, as in John ix. 6. It has pleased God upon many 
occasions, when he has exerted a miraculous power, to enjoin some 
external observances as indications of faith and obedience. See 
2 Kings v. 10. John ix. 7. The flight of the evil spirit, and his 
being bound by Raphael, implies only that he was circumscribed 
and restricted in his power by an expulsion to the supposed sphere 
of demons. Vid. Luke viii. 29. Matt. xii. 43. Hieron. in Hierem. 
c. xxviii. 



OF THE BOOK OF TOBIT. 541 

ference, and the miraculous circumstances are so incor- 
porated with the history, that the truth of the whole 
account rests on the same foundation, and the parti- 
cular parts cannot be separately removed. 

Still, however, those who consider the whole book 
as a moral fiction, designed for the particular consola- 
tion of the Jews in captivity, or for their general 
instruction and encouragement in affliction, may derive 
the same profit from that fine spirit of piety and bene- 
volence which breathes through every part of the 
book 4 ; and which occasionally breaks out into those 
beautiful sentiments that have been imitated by suc- 
ceeding writers, and copied out into the Liturgy of our 
church 5 ; and which sometimes approach even the 
refined precepts of Christianity 6 . It must be admitted, 
however, that there are passages in the book which 
express notions incompatible with the doctrines of 
Scripture. The angel appears in some instances to be 
invested with a mediatorial character 7 , in a manner 
injurious to the pre-eminence of Christ, and to be 
endued with attributes of omnipotence, and at the same 
time to utter what was not really true s . The Romish 
church has endeavoured to avail itself of the authority 
of the book to countenance some errors, and super- 
stitious practices. 

The passage in chap. iv. 17, "Pour out thy bread 9 

4 Ch. iii. viii. xiii. 

5 Tobit iv. 7, 8, 9, and the Communion Service. 

G Ch. iv. 7. comp. with Luke xi. 41. Ch. iv. 15. with Matt. vii. 
12. and Luke xi, 31. Ch. iv. 16. with Luke xiv. 13. Ch. viii. ix. 
comp. with 1 Tim. vi. 18, 19. 

7 Ch. xii. 15. 8 Ch. v. 12. 

9 The old Latin version, according to the Chaldee, adds, " and the 



542 OF THE BOOK OF TOBIT. 

on the burial of the just, but have nothing to do with 
the wicked," relates probably to the entertainments 
given in honour of the dead, which were customary 
among the Jews * as well as other nations, and some- 
times observed even at the sepulchres 2 of the deceased: 
it has been strained, however, to countenance masses for 
the dead 3 . 

In the old Roman Missal, and in the Missal of 
Sarum, there is a proper mass of Raphael the arch- 
angel ; and in the prefatory rubric it is directed, that 
the office be celebrated for pilgrims or travellers, and 
also for sick persons and demoniacs 4 ; upon notions of 
the archangel's character, built on the relations of this 
book. Afterwards follow two short prayers, one ad- 
dressed to God, and one to Raphael himself; the 
offensive impiety of which practice, as derogatory to 
the honour of God, and the exclusive mediation of 
Jesus Christ, was happily exposed by the light of the 
Reformation. 

1 Joseph. Antiq. lib. xvii. c. viii. p. 771. de Bell. Jud. lib. ii. c. i. 
p. 1027. Jerem. xvi. 7, 8. 

2 Meursius de Funer. c. xxxv. Villalpandus in Ezech. xxiv. 17. 
Eccles. xxx. 18. Eustath. in Homer, lib. xxiii. 

3 Estius in loc. 

* Arnald's Dissertat. on the Demon Asmodseus. 



OF THE 



BOOK OF JUDITH. 



The author, and the period of this history, are both 
uncertain ! . Some commentators imagine that it was 
written by Joacim or Eliakim, whom they conceive to 
have been high-priest in the reign of Manasses 2 ; and 
that it was translated into Chaldee for the use of those 
Jews in the captivity at Babylon, who had forgotten 
their own language. Others attribute the work to 
Joshua, the son of Josedech 3 , the companion of Zerub- 
babel. But by whomsoever, or in whatever language 
it was produced, the original is not now extant. The 
Hebrew copy, which some have professed to have seen 
at Constantinople 4 , was probably a work of modern 
composition ; and our English translation, as well as 
the Syriac, is made from a Greek version which existed 
probably long before the time of Theodotion, as it 
seems to have been known to Clemens Romanus 5 . 

1 Isidor. Orig. lib. vi. c. ii, Serar. Prolog, iu Jud. St. Jerom 
seems to consider it as the production of Judith. Vid. in Agg. i. 6. 
torn. Hi. p. 1187. 2 Ch. iv. 6. 

3 Pseudo-Philo. Lib. de Temp. R. Asarias, Sixt. Senens. Jul. 
Roger de Lib. Can. c. xx. 

4 Lib. Munster. Praef. in Tob. Hebraeum. 

5 Clemens Rom. Epist. ad Corinth, c. Iv. p. 210. edit. Wotton. 
Vid. also, Polycarp. et Clem. Alex. Strom, lib. iv. p. 617. 



544 OF THE BOOK OF JUDITH. 

The most probable opinion is, that the book was ori- 
ginally written in Chaldee 6 by some Jew of Babylon ; 
and it might possibly have been designed to enliven 
the confidence of the Jews during the captivity, and to 
invigorate their hopes of a deliverance. 

Upon a supposition of the truth of the history, the 
circumstances described must have occurred previously 
to the destruction of Jerusalem, since the Persians are 
represented as still subject to the Assyrian empire 7 ; 
and Nineveh, which is here mentioned as the capital 
of Nebuchodonosor's empire 8 , was overthrown before 
that destruction ; and upon the impending invasion of 
Holophernes, the Jews are said in this book to have 
been troubled, " for the city and temple of their God." 
Usher, therefore, Lloyd, and Prideaux, have agreed in 
considering the history as coeval with the time of 
Manasses 9 : placing it in about the forty-fourth year 
of his reign, a.m. 3348. Prideaux, with other writers, 
after a judicious investigation of the several opinions 
that have been entertained upon the subject \ maintains 

6 Hieron. Prsef. in Lib. Judith. 

7 Ch. i. 7—10. 8 Ch. i. 1. 

9 Some place it in the reign of Anion, or in that of Josiah, and 
others contend for the time of Jehoiakim. Some writers, who place 
it in the reign of Zedekiah, conceive that Nebuchodonosor was the 
same person with Nebuchadnezzar ; upon which supposition, Jeru- 
salem must have been taken in the same year that Bethulia was 
besieged, if we follow the accounts of the Greek copies of this book, 
which place the expedition of Holophernes in the eighteenth year of 
Nebuchodonosor's reign ; for the eighteenth of Nebuchadnezzar 
coincides with the ninth year of Zedekiah. 

1 The ancient tradition among the Jews was, that the circumstan- 
ces of the history happened under the reign of Cambyses, after he 
had conquered Arphaxad. Vid. Euseb. Chron. Hist. Scholast. 



OF THE BOOK OF JUDITH. 545 

that the Arphaxad of this book was Deioces 2 : and 
Nebuchodonosor, Saosduchinus, who ascended the 
throne of Babylon, a.m. 3336 ; and the learned author 
places the expedition of Holophernes in a.m. 3349 : 
making the twelfth year of Saosduchinus to coincide 
with the forty-third of Manasses 3 . 

But though the history cannot with consistency be 
assigned to any other time than that of Manasses 4 , 

Dionys. Carthus. Suidas, verbo Holophernes. But the capital of 
Cambyses was Babylon, and he reigned but seven years and three 
months. Vid. Herod, lib. iii. cap. lxvi. p. 230. edit. Wesseling. 
Others attribute the history to the time of Xerxes. Vid. Suidas, 
verbo Judith. Riber, in Nahum ii. Estius and others to the time 
of Darius Hystaspes ; and Sulpicius Severus assigns it to a still 
later period, placing it under the reign of Ochus, King of Persia. 
Vid. Hist. Sac. lib. ii. p. 315-16. Bellarm. de Verb. Dei, lib. i. 
c. xii. torn. i. p. 38. Augustin de Civit. Dei, lib. xviii. c. 26. 

2 Deioces founded Ecbatana ; and the beginning of the twelfth 
year of Saosduchinus, coincides with the last year of Deioces. These 
and other concurrent circumstances seem to prove, that Deioces and 
Arphaxad must have been the same person ; though some writers 
relate that Deioces lived long, and died old, in prosperity. Calmet 
supposes Arphaxad to be the Phraortes of Herodotus, the circum- 
stances of whose life and death, as he conceives, correspond better 
with the accounts of this book, and who may be supposed to have 
finished the fortifications of Ecbatana, as described in chap. i. 2 — 4. 
Vid. Herod, lib. i. c. cii. p. 52. 

3 Prid. Con. vol. i. part. i. b.c 655. Calmet's Preface. Bellarm. 
de Verb. Dei, lib. i. c. xii. Usher, Annal. a. 3335 et 3347. 

4 Manasses himself is not mentioned in this book, (nor, indeed, 
any king,) whence some have supposed that the siege of Bethulia 
happened during his captivity at Babylon ; or that he was with- 
holden from an active part from cautious or prudential considera- 
tions ; or lastly, that he was then engaged in sequestered repentance. 
But as Bethulia was on the frontiers, the defence of it might have 
been entrusted to the high-priest. The precise situation of Bethulia 

N n 



546 OF THE BOOK OF JUDITH. 

there are still so many objections to this period, that 
many writers have chosen to consider the whole work 
as a religious romance. It must be confessed, indeed, 
to be extraordinary, that neither Philo nor Josephus 
should make any mention of this signal deliverance ; 
for the latter especially, though he professed to confine 
himself to such accounts as were contained in the 
Hebrew, (that is, the authentic canonical) books 5 , yet 
by no means adheres so strictly to his plan that he 
might not have been expected to have mentioned so 
remarkable an interposition of God in favour of his 
country ; but as this omission can only furnish a pre- 
sumptive argument against the truth of the history; 
and as the apparent inconsistencies may be accounted 
for without destroying the credibility of the chief par- 
ticulars ; it is more reasonable to consider it as the 
history of real events 6 : since many of its circumstan- 
ces correspond with the accounts of ancient historians 7 ; 

is not known ; some place it in the territory of Zebulon, in which 
there appears to have been a town of that name, but Judith, Manas- 
ses, and Ozias were of the tribe of Simeon. There might have been 
a frontier town in the hilly country of Simeon, towards Syria, named 
Bethulia, though we have no other mention of it in history. We 
cannot, however, suppose it to have been the same place with Bethel, 
or Bethuel, mentioned in Joshua xix. 4. and 1 Chron. iv. 30. with- 
out allowing that the author has been guilty of some geographical 
mistakes. Vid. chap. iii. 9, 10. and iv. 6. Calmet in chap. xi. 7 ; 
and Arnald in chap. vi. 10. 

5 Proeem. Antiq. et Vita Josephi. 

6 Montfaucon Verite de l'Histoire de Judith. Howel's Hist, of 
Bible, vol. ii. book vi. p. 174. Houbigant Prsef. et Not. Herod, 
lib. i. c. cii. 

7 Nebuchodonosor is styled Saosduchinus by Ptolemy and other 
writers. Nebuchodonosor was, indeed, properly the name of the 



OF THE BOOK OF JUDITH. 547 

and the Jews as well as the earlier Christians, believed 
it to be a relation of historical truths. 

Many also of the difficulties which occur in consider- 
ing the history; and many of the objections to the 
period which is assigned to it, are to be attributed to 
corruptions which have taken place in the Greek ver- 
sion 8 ; and which are among the inconsistencies that 
St. Jerom professes to have lopped off as spurious when 
he made his translation, which is now extant in the 
Vulgate 9 . Some originate in the obscurity that neces- 
sarily hangs over a period so distant, and so little illus- 
trated by the remains of ancient history ] ; and some 

Babylonian kings : but the Jews seem to have called all the princes 
who reigned beyond the Euphrates by that name, as in Tobit, Na- 
bopolassar is so called. Vid. Tobit xiv. 15. 

8 The third verse of the fourth chapter represents the Jews as 
newly returned from the captivity ; but this is not in St. Jerom's 
version. So likewise, the words in the sixteenth verse of the fifth 
chapter, which speak of the temple as being cast to the ground, are 
rescinded as a corruption by St. Jerom ; though the original Greek 
words kyevi)Br\ etg eSatyog, might mean only that the temple was pro- 
faned and trampled on ; as it was at several times, and, perhaps, by 
the Assyrians, when Manasses was taken prisoner. The captivities 
and dispersion spoken of both in the Greek and Latin, may be un- 
derstood of the Assyrian captivities under Manasses. Vid. 2 Chron. 
xxxiii. 11 — 13. 

9 Chap. i. 13. which differs five years from the date given in chap. 
i. 1. In St. Jerom's version there is no apparent inconsistency. In 
chap. ii. 1. the eighteenth year is placed, in consequence of the same 
calculation, instead of the thirteenth, as it stands in St. Jerom's 
version. It is, however, possible, that there is no mistake, and that 
five years might have intervened between the preparations for war, 
and the attack on Arphaxad. 

1 Joacim, or Eliakim, is represented in this book as high-priest, 
though no high-priest of that name is mentioned before the captivity 
by Josephus, or in the Scriptures, unless we attribute that character 

n n 2 



548 OF THE BOOK OF JUDITH." 

may be charged on the ignorance of the author, who 
compiled the book from such materials as he could 
procure ; and who, to give importance to his history, 
and to magnify the characters which he describes, has 
embellished his work, sometimes at the expence of 
chronology and truth 2 . 

If these causes of inconsistency be admitted, there 
will be no necessity to question the truth of the princi- 
pal circumstances in this history ; and to have recourse 
to such imaginations as Grotius 3 and others have en- 
tertained; who have amused themselves by consider- 
ing it as an instructive fiction, or ingenious allegory ; 
and have indulged in speculations that may serve to 
prove the fertility of their invention, but which conduce 
but little to illustrate truth ; or to increase our reve- 
rence for works, respectable at least for their antiquity 

to the Eliakim spoken of by Isaiah, chap. xxii. 20 — 25. But the 
catalogue of Josephus is corrupted, and the Scriptures no where 
profess to furnish an exact succession of the priests. Vid. Prid. 
Con. vol. i. part i. Anno 677. p. 45. 

2 It is said in chap. xvi. 23. that none made Israel afraid in the 
days of Judith, nor a long time after her death. Now as we cannot 
suppose her to have been more than forty years old when she cap- 
tivated Holophernes ; (probably not so old, especially as she is called 
fair damsel, Ka\rj 7rai^iaicr), chap. xii. 13.) and as she lived to the 
age of 105, there must have been a sixty years peace at least after 
the deliverance ; which was a longer space of time than intervened 
between the forty-fifth year of Man asses, and the taking of Jerusalem 
by Nebuchadnezzar, (not to mention the dangers under Josiah, and 
the defeat and death of that monarch) ; or, indeed, than any period 
of uninterrupted peace in the course of the Jewish history. We 
must, therefore, suppose the author to have spoken hyperboiically 
of the effects of Judith's heroism. 

3 Grot. Prsef. adAnnot. in lib. Judith. Grotius fancies that it is a 
parabolical, or aenigmatic fiction, written in the time of Antiochus 
Epiphanes, to encourage the Jews under the persecution carried on 



OF THE BOOK OF JUDITH. 549 

and sanctions ; and valuable for the instruction which 
they afford. It may be observed also, as an intrinsic 
mark of the truth of this history, that the author 
appears to speak of Achior's family as living at the 
time when the book was written 4 , and that in the last 
verse of the Vulgate, it is said that the day of Judith's 
triumph had ever since been celebrated as a sacred 
festival 5 . 

It appears from the accounts of Origen 6 , and St. 
Jerom 7 , that the Jews reckoned this book among their 
apocryphal writings. It is no where cited by our 
Saviour or his apostles 8 ; it is not in the catalogues 

by him. He imagines that Judith is the Jewish nation ; and Bethulia 
the house of God ; that by Nebuchodonosor and Holophernes, are 
meant the devil and his agent, and he offers other whimsical conceits 
to explain this supposed allegory. Vid. similar notions in Luther, 
Reineccius, and Capellus, Limborch. Theolog. lib. i. cap. iii. § 9. 
p. 10. edit. Amstel. 1686. 

4 Chap. xiv. 10. 

5 Chap. xvi. 31. Vulgate. This verse is not in the Greek, 
Syriac, or ancient Latin versions, nor is the festival mentioned in 
any authentic Hebrew calendars. Some writers, however, suppose 
that it was anciently observed. Vid. Selden de Syned. lib. iii. 
c. xiii. § x. vol, i. p. 1743. edit. Wilkins. Scaliger de Emend. Tem. 
lib. vii. p. 633. et Calmet in loc. 

6 Homil. xxvii. in Numeros, p. 374. 

7 Hieron. Praef. in Judith. Some manuscripts of St. Jerom read 
improperly Hagiographa, instead of Apocrypha. Vid. Chapter on 
Tobit in this work. 

8 There is a resemblance between Elizabeth's salutation of Mary, 
in Luke i. 42. and the encomium bestowed on Judith by Ozias, in 
chap. xiii. 18. of this book ; as, likewise, between the exhortation 
of St. Paul, and a passage in chap. viii. 24, 25. of the Vulgate copy 
of Judith. The coincidence of expression is probably accidental in 
both parallels. St. Paul in the last alludes to the circumstances 
mentioned in Numb. xxi. 6. and xiv. 37. 



550 OF THE BOOK OF JUDITH. 

furnished by Melito, Origen, and Athanasius, nor was 
it received by Hilary, Gregory Nazianzen, Cyril of 
Jerusalem, or the Council of Laodicea. Being quoted, 
however with respect by many ancient writers 9 ; and 
considered as canonical in a secondary sense by St. 
Augustin l and the African church 2 , it was received 
indiscriminately, and as of the same authority with 
the inspired books by the Council of Trent 3 , which 
canonized St. Jerom's translation ; and since that time 
it has been generally reverenced as an inspired work 
by the writers of the Romish church ; who are, how- 

9 Clem. Epist. ad Corinth, c. Iv, p. 210. Clem. Constit. Apost. 
Origen. Homil. xix. in Jerom. torn. iii. p. 271. edit. Par. 1740. 
Clem. Alex. Strom, lib. iv. p. 617. edit. Potter. Tertull. de Monog. 
c. xvii. Ambros. de Offic. lib. iii. c. xiii. torn. ii. et de Vid. c. vii. 
August, de Doct. Christ, lib. ii. c. viii. torn iii. 

1 St. Augustin expressly remarks that this book was said not 
to have been admitted into the Hebrew canon. Vid. de Civit. Dei, 
lib. xviii. c. xxvi. 

2 Concil. Carthag. 3. canon 47. See also, the suspected epistle 
of Pope Innocent I. where the books of Tobit, Judith, and Macca- 
bees, are reckoned as scripture. 

3 Concil. Trid. Sess. 4. Some controversialists have asserted that 
St. Jerom allowed, by implication at least, that the book of Judith 
was canonized by the Council of Nice. Vid. Bellar. de V. Dei, lib. 
i. c. x. Baron. Annal. torn. iii. Ann. 325. sect. 157. But in the 
acts of this council, the book is not mentioned ; and in the place 
referred to, (vid. Hieron. Prsef. in Judit. p. 1170. torn. i. edit. Par. 
1693,) St. Jerom only says, that the Council of Nice is reported 
(legitur) to have reckoned this book in the number of the sacred 
writings ; and he remarks that the Hebrews (that is the Hellenists, 
or the converted Jews) considered it as Apocryphal ; and elsewhere 
(vid. Prsef. in Lib. Solom. p. 939.) that the church, though it read 
Judith, did not receive it as canonical. Vid. also in Prol. Gal. 
Epist. 47. ad Furiam, torn. iv. p. 561. et Bellarm. de Verbo Dei, 
lib. i. c. x. Erasm. in Censur. Praef, Hieron. 

1 



OF THE BOOK OF JUDITH. 551 

ever, much perplexed and distressed for want of argu- 
ments to support its pretensions. 

The book presents an interesting scene of ambition 
frustrated, and of intemperance punished. The history 
is written with great grandeur and animation, and the 
Assyrian and Hebrew manners are well described. 
The prayer, and the hymn of Judith, are composed 
with much piety 4 . The work contains nothing excep- 
tionable in point of doctrine, for where Judith cele- 
brates God's justice in punishing the crime of the 
Shechemites 5 , she need not be understood to justify 
Simeon for his vindictive and indiscriminate cruelty. 
If the address with which she accomplished her designs 
should be thought to partake too much of an insidious 
character, we may be permitted, at least, to admire the 
heroic patriotism and piety which prompted her to 
undertake the exploit ; the urgency and importance of 
the occasion, will likewise excuse the hazardous expo- 
sure of her person to intemperate passions ; and in the 
general description of her character, she may be 
allowed to have presented an exemplary display of the 
virtues which become the widowed state 6 , and excited 
her to actions of extraordinary prowess. 

4 Chapters ix. xvi/ 5 Chap. ix. 2. 

6 Ambrose de Vit. Fulgent. Epist. 2. edit. Paris, 1684. 



OF THE 

REST OF THE CHAPTERS OF THE 
BOOK OF ESTHER. 



The Chapters entitled, The Rest of the Chapters of 
the Book of Esther, are not extant in the Hebrew, or 
in the Chaldaic language, but only in the Greek and 
Latin copies. Origen was of opinion, that they had 
formerly existed in the Hebrew \, though omitted in 
the copies that remained in his time ; and Huet, upon 
a very probable supposition, conceives them to have 
been the production of the great Synagogue ; and, on 
the alleged authority of Origen, represents them to 
have been rendered into Greek from some more 
copious manuscripts by the Septuagint translators 2 ; 

1 Vid. Origen in Johan. torn. ii. et Epist. ad African. 

2 Origen, indeed, quoting some passages from the fourteenth 
chapter of the book of Esther, says, " in the book of Esther, accord- 
ing to the Seventy," the spurious parts being annexed to some 
copies of the Septuagint, though, indeed, long after that version was 
made, as Origen must have known, however he might think it 
unnecessary there to distinguish the canonical from the spurious 
parts. Vid. Epist. ad African. Origen elsewhere rejects these 
additions as apocryphal. Vid. Sixt. Senens. Bib. Sanct. lib. i. sect. 
3. et lib. v. Annot. 250. 



OF THE BOOK OF ESTHER. 553 

but these translators certainly confined themselves to 
the canonical books. 

It is at least very doubtful whether these chapters 
did ever exist in the Hebrew language ; and it is un- 
questionable that they never were in the Hebrew 
canon. If, likewise, we are to rely on the accounts of 
this book, there is reason to believe that even 'the 
authentic book of Esther was not translated by the 
author of the Septuagint into Greek : for in the first 
verse of the second chapter of this apocryphal part, it 
is said, that the Epistle of Phurim, by which was pro- 
bably meant the book of Esther, was interpreted into 
Greek by Lysimachus 3 ; who was possibly an Hellenis- 
tical Jew residing at Jerusalem ; and the apocryphal 
parts contained in this book were, perhaps, added to 
the Greek translation by Dositheus and Ptolemeus, or 
by some other Hellenists of Alexandria. They appear 
to have been subsequent additions interpolated in 
various parts of the Greek copies by some person 
desirous of giving embellishment to the history ; and 
who inserted into the body of the work such tradi- 
tionary or fanciful circumstances as his inquiry or 
invention could furnish. From the Greek these addi- 
tions were translated into the old Italic version 4 . 

3 According to this account, it was translated in the fourth year 
of the reign of Ptolemy ; who, if he were Ptolemy Philometor. lived 
long after the Septuagint translation was made. Some conceive that 
Ptolemy Philadelphus was meant ; in the seventh year of whose 
reign that version is supposed to have been executed ; and Huet 
imagines that the Seventy adopted this work of Lysimachus into 
their translation of the scriptures, on an idea that it was executed 
before the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus. 

4 This differed both from the Hebrew and Greek copies. 



554 OF THE BOOK OF ESTHER. 

They were not, however, considered as canonical by 
the ancient church 5 , though they might sometimes 
pass uncensured as annexed to the canonical book. St. 
Jerom, who confined himself to what was in the He- 
brew, did not admit them into his translation 6 ; but 
represented them as rhetorical appendages and embel- 
lishments, subjoined to the Italic version. Since that 
time, the most judicious writers 7 have not scrupled to 
consider them as extrinsic and spurious additions; 
though they are canonized, together with the authen- 
tic chapters, by the Council of Trent ; and passages 
from them are inserted in the offices of the Romish 
church. 

5 Melito ap. Euseb. Hist. Eccles. 1. iv. c. xxvi. p. 149. Athan. 
Epist. 39. Gregor. Nazianz. Carm. de veris et german. Script. 
Libris, torn. ii. p. 98. Par. 1630. Sixt. Senens, Bib. Sanct. lib. i. 
sect. 3. p. 27. Even the canonical book of Esther, indeed, is not 
expressly enumerated in these catalogues : either because of the 
spurious additions, or as the generality of writers suppose, because 
the authentic book was reckoned as one book with those of Ezra 
and Nehemiah ; the three being attributed to the same author. The 
Fathers profess to receive the whole of the Hebrew canon exclu- 
sively ; and in the synopsis attributed to Athanasius, the apo- 
cryphal part of Esther, which is described as beginning with the 
dream of Mordecai, is rejected ; and the authentic part is there 
said to be reckoned as one book with another ; which other must 
have been that of Ezra. Vid. also Hieron. Praef. in Ezram et 
Nehem. The book is reckoned in the catalogues of Origen, 
Hilary, Cyril, and Epiphanius ; and in that of the Council of 
Laodicea. 

6 Hieron. Praef. in Esther. In the Greek church they are still 
suffered to constitute a part of the book of Esther. 

7 Grotius Praef. ad Addit. Esther. Dionys. Carthus. Cajetan. 
Raynold Heidegger, lib. ii. c. x. Kenthii Proleg. ad Lib. Apoc. 
V. T. p. 27. Sixtus Senensis calls them, laceras Appendices et 
pannosa Additamenta. Vid. Bib. Sanct. 



OF THE BOOK OF ESTHER. 555 

It is manifest, on considering the canonical book, 
that it is a complete and perfect work ; and these apo- 
cryphal parts, which are introduced into the Greek 
copies, will appear to be superfluous and cumbrous 
additions to those who take the pains to examine them. 
They are in a different style from that of the authentic 
chapters, and consist partly of a repetition of particulars 
contained in them. The first chapter, which in the 
Greek copies is annexed to the tenth of the canonical 
chapters, consists of an interpretation of a pretended 
dream of Mordecai, which contains some fanciful con- 
ceits, and was furnished probably by the same person 
who fabricated the dream, which follows in the next 
chapter. The intimation contained in the first verse 
of the second or eleventh chapter, was possibly written 
by some Jew of Alexandria ; it was not in the ancient 
Italic version. The dream which is related in this 
eleventh chapter, and which in the Greek is placed 
before the canonical part, is evidently the reverie of 
some inventive writer ; and was afterwards prefixed to 
the work. It does not form a proper introduction to 
the book ; and in the fifth verse of the second canon- 
ical chapter, Mordecai is introduced as a person not 
before mentioned; and his genealogy, and other par- 
ticulars, are described there, and in the succeeding 
verse, with a minuteness which must have been quite 
redundant, if the second verse of the eleventh chapter 
had been authentic. 

The account of the devices, and of the discovery of 
the two eunuchs who conspired against the life of Ar- 
taxerxes, is a repetition, with some alterations, of what 
is related in the second chapter of the authentic part 8 ; 

8 Esther ii. 21—23. 



556 OF THE BOOK OF ESTHER. 

and couli not properly be prefixed (as it is in the 
Greek) to the canonical book, which opens the history 
as if nothing had been previously communicated. The 
sixth or fifteenth chapter contains a description of 
Esther's appearance and reception by the King, which 
is borrowed from the fifth chapter of the genuine his- 
tory 9 , and diversified with some supposititious particu- 
lars. So, likewise, the prayers of Mordecai and Esther, 
contained in the thirteenth and fourteenth chapters ! ; 
as well as the letter in the thirteenth 2 chapter ; and 
that in the sixteenth 3 , which concludes the apocryphal 
book, are all obviously fictitious inventions, designed 
by some rhetorical writer 4 , to decorate and complete 
the history. They are probably accounts fabricated in 
designed conformity to particulars alluded to by the 
inspired writer in his book ; and are interwoven with 
some ingenuity into the body of the work. The for- 
gery is, however, occasionally betrayed by the introduc- 
tion of circumstances incompatible with the genuine 
parts 5 ; and somewhat inconsistent with the period 

9 The fifteenth chapter is, in the Greek and Vulgate, inserted im- 
mediately after Esther's prayer (as given in the fourteenth chapter) 
instead of the two first verses of the fifth chapter. 

1 These prayers are placed, in the Greek, immediately after the 
seventeenth verse of the fourth chapter. 

2 This in the Greek is added after the thirteenth verse of the third 
chapter. It might be grounded on some authentic accounts, as the 
substance of it is related by Josephus. 

3 This edict in the Greek copies follows the twelfth verse of the 
eighth chapter. It appears from the style to have been originally 
written in Greek, and both the letters are mentioned in the authentic 
book in a manner that shows they were not inserted in the history. 
Vid. Esth. iii. 14. viii. 13. 

4 Hieron. ad Paul. etEustoch. Sixt. Senens. Bib. Sanct. lib. viii. 

5 Comp. chap. vi. 3. with xii. 5. Chap, v. 2. with chap. xv. 4. 
Chap. iii. 12. with chap. xiii. 6. Chap. ix. 1. with chap. vi. 8. 



OF THE BOOK OF ESTHER. 557 

assigned to the history 6 . Some Greek and Latin co- 
pies contain still more extraneous particulars ; and the 
Chaldee Paraphrase is loaded with accumulated addi- 
tions. The copies, indeed, vary so much from each 
other, that Bellarmine 7 supposes that there must have 
been two histories, the first written in Hebrew, con- 
taining only the substance of the original history, as it 
stands in the canonical book ; the second written also 
in Hebrew, at a different time by some other writer, 
more copiously, of which the Greek translation only is 
come down to us. Our church judiciously adheres to 
the chapters contained in the Hebrew, which are indis- 
putably authentic ; and present us with an entire and 
valuable history. The adventitious parts, however, 
though they contain trifling and objectionable pas- 
sages 8 , are suffered to continue in our Bibles as profitable 
in a subordinate degree. They deserve not to be incor- 
porated with the genuine history, though they illustrate 
the characters, and dilate on the virtues displayed for 
our instruction by the sacred writer. 

6 The king is made in chap. xvi. 10. to style Aman a Macedonian ; 
and afterwards to talk of his desire " to translate the kingdom of the 
Persians to the Macedonians :" particulars that lead us to suspect an 
anachronism, or corruption of the text, as they were more adapted 
to the sentiments and circumstances of a later period, when the Per- 
sians and Macedonians were at war. In the ninth chapter, indeed, 
of the canonical book, Haman is in the Greek called a Macedonian, 
but the Hebrew word »JJ«n, should havebeen rendered as by St. Jerom, 
and in our translation, the Agagite, that is, of the race of Agag, king of 
the Amalekites. Josephus describes Haman as an Amalekite. Vid. 
Antiq. lib. xi. c. vi. p. 490. edit. Hudson. Esther ix. 24. iii. 10. 

7 Bellarm. de Verb. Dei, lib. i. c. vii. 

8 Chap. x. xiv. 2. 



OF THE 



BOOK OF THE WISDOM OF 
SOLOMON. 



The works of Solomon, in general, may be emphatically 
styled the Book of Wisdom, the Book of Proverbs at 
least was so cited by the Fathers l ; and in ecclesiastical 
language, the Book of Wisdom applies not only to the 
authentic books of Solomon, but also to Ecclesiasticus ; 
and to this which is called the Book of Wisdom, or 
according to the Greek, the Wisdom of Solomon. The 
author of this book assumes the title, and speaks in the 
character of that monarch 2 ; but though it may, per- 
haps, contain some sentiments selected from his works, 
and others ascribed to him by tradition 3 , it cannot be 
received as an inspired book ; and it was certainly 
composed long after the time of Solomon. It never 

1 Melito ap. Euseb. Eccles. lib. iv. c. xxvi. Clem. Epist. ad Cor. 
c. lvii. p. 218. edit. Wotton, in notis. Origen in Cantic. Prol. et 
cont. Cels. lib. iii. p. 485. Cyprian Test. lib. iii. c. xvi. Ambrose 
de Paradiso, c. i. § 6. p. 147« torn. i. edit. Paris, 1686. Clem. Alex. 
Strom, lib. vi. p. 795. 

2 Vid. c. vii. 7 — 21. compared with 1 Kings c. iii. 13. c. xiv. 29 — 
34. Vid. c. viii. 14, 15. 19. 21. c. ix. 7, 8, &c. 

3 Bartoloc. Biblioth. Rabb. torn. i. p. 249. Rome, 1675. 



OF THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON. 559 

was in the Hebrew canon 4 , and probably never in the 
Hebrew language 5 . It is not reckoned in the sacred 
catalogues of the earlier church ; and the generality of 
ancient writers confess, that it is not to be considered 
as the work of Solomon. It contains citations of Scrip- 
ture from the Septuagint, even where that version dif- 
fers from the Hebrew text 6 ; and borrows from books 
written long after the time of Solomon 7 . 

The copy which has the highest pretensions to be 
considered as the original, is in Greek prose. Some 
learned men have fancied, that they have discovered in 
this book, as well as in that of Ecclesiasticus, the He- 
brew measure, which obtains in the authentic works of 
Solomon 8 . The sentences have indeed often a poetical 
turn ; and in the Alexandrian manuscript, they are 
written in regular arrangement, like the Book of Job, 
of Psalms, and those of Solomon, to which this was 
subjoined in some old Latin versions, and by Dr. Grabe 
in his edition. 

Some have conceived that it was translated from the 
Hebrew into Greek ; and others with less reason sup- 
pose it to have been rendered from the Chaldee, in 

4 Melito Epist. ad Onesim. Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. c. xxvi. 
Athan. Synop. Epiphan. de Pond, et Mensur. Hieron. Prsefat. in 
Lib. Salom. Job. Daraascen. de Fid. Orthod. lib. iv. c. xviii. 

5 August, de Civit. Dei, lib. xvii. c. xx. et xxiv. Hieron. Prol. 
Gal. 

6 Ch. v. 10, 11. from Pro v. xxx. 19. Ch. ii. 12. from Isaiab iii. 
10. 

7 Compare Wisd. iii. 14. with Isaiah lvi. 4, 5. Wisd. ix. 13. with 
Isaiah xl. 13. Wisd. xiii. 11. with Isaiah xliv. 13. Wisd. v. 18. with 
Isaiah lix. 17. Wisd. ii. 6, 7. with Isaiah lvi. 12. 

8 Vid. Grabe's Proleg. torn. ult. c. i. ii. § 10. edit. Oxon. 1709. 
Calmet's Diet, in Wisd. Epiphan. de Ponder, et Mensur. 



560 OF THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON. 

which language R. Moses Ben Nachman professes to 
have seen it 9 ; though probably what he saw was a 
translation from the Greek into that language. 

But in whatever language it was written, it has al- 
ways been deservedly esteemed as a treasure of wisdom. 
It was composed in imitation of the style of Solomon, 
though, perhaps, not designed to pass for his work, but 
to communicate such instructions as might be consis- 
tent with the assumed character. Many ancient writers 
have cited it as a work attributed to Solomon, and as 
not unworthy, from its resemblance to his writings, to 
be regarded as the performance of that enlightened 
monarch ; and some appear to have considered it as his 
genuine production l . Lactantius, with other writers, 
represents, in loose citation, the description of the just 
man persecuted, which is contained in the second chap- 
ter, to be a prophecy delivered by Solomon concerning 
our Saviour's sufferings 2 . It is certain, however, that 
the book was not written by Solomon, as St. Augustin 
(who likewise considers this passage as prophetic) al- 
lows 3 . The antiquity and high importance of this 
book, appear to have excited great reverence in the 
ancient church 4 ; and some of the Fathers seem to 

9 R. Moses Ben Nachman. Prol. Com. in Pentat. 

1 Clem. Alex. Strom, lib. vi. p. 800. edit. Potter. Basil. Horn. 5. 
in Princip. Proverb, p. 731. torn. ii. edit. Par. 1722. Tertul. cont. 
Marcion. lib. iii. Origen cont. Cels. lib. iii. § 72. p. 494. Hieron. 
in Psalm lxxiii. p. 306. torn. ii. 

2 Lactant. de Ver. Sap. lib. iv. § 16. p. 267. apud Bib. Patr. torn, 
iii. edit. Colon. Agripp. 1618. Wisd. ii. 12—21. 

3 August, de Civit. Dei, lib. xvii. c. xx. p. 483. edit. Par. 1685. 

4 St. Augustin says, " Non debuit repudiari sententia libri Sa- 
pientise, qui meruit in Ecclesia Christi de gradu lectorum, tam longa 
annositate recitari." From this it should seem, that the apocryphal 



OF THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON. 561 

have thought that the Book of Wisdom, and that of 
Ecclesiasticus, contained passages, at least, that were 
inspired. St. Augustin affirms, that the Christian 
writers who immediately succeeded the apostles, ad- 
duced its testimony as Divine 5 ; but it does not appear 
that they, or St. Augustin himself, considered the book 
as really the work of an inspired penman, since he al- 
lowed that neither this work, nor that of Ecclesiasticus, 
were produced against gainsayers with the same autho- 
rity as the undoubted writings of Solomon. And he 
elsewhere admits, that after the death of Malachi, the 
Jews had no Prophet till the appearance of Zacharias, 
the father of John the Baptist 6 . The Fathers, indeed, 
in general, however they might be dazzled by particu- 
lar passages, or consider them as fragments of inspired 
writings, yet regarded the Book of Wisdom as inferior 
to the canonical books ; they esteemed it as a work of 
admirable tendency, and as of a scriptural character, 



books were read in a lower place by the lectores, or inferior officers 
of the church. Whereas the inspired books were read by the priests 
and bishops from a more conspicuous place. De Gradu Episcopo- 
rum. Vid. August, de Praedest. c. xiv. § 27. p. 534. torn. x. edit. 
Antwerp. 1700. 

5 St. Augustin may be understood to mean, that they who cited 
Wisd. iv. 11. cited it as a faithful saying, and as grounded on Divine 
authority. Vid. de Praedest. Sanct. c. xiv. § 28. p. 808. torn. x. 
edit. Paris, 1690. et Cyprian. L. de Mortal, p. 415. et Testimon. lib. 
iii. p. 59. edit. Amstel. 1700. St. Augustin says, likewise, of this 
book, in an hyperbolical encomium, that it deserves " omnibus 
Christianis cum veneratione divinae auctoritatis audiri." Vid. also 
de Doct. Christ, lib. ii. c, viii. et de Civit. Dei, lib. xiii. c. xvi. 

6 August, de Civit. Dei, lib. xviii. c. xxxv. p. 517. et lib. xvii. 
c. xxiv. p. 487. torn. vii. 

o 



562 OF THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON. 

but not as absolutely derived from the suggestions of 
the Holy Spirit 7 . 

Some partial councils 8 admitted it as canonical in a 
secondary interpretation of that word ; but it was al- 
ways considered as inferior to the books contained in 
the Hebrew catalogue, till by the peremptory decision 
of the Council of Trent, it was received as a work of 
equal authority with them. Still, however, the most 
zealous defenders 9 of the Romish church acknowledge, 
that it never was in the Hebrew canon as completed 
by Ezra 1 ; at the closing of which we have every reason 
to believe that the spirit of inspiration ceased. 

7 It is expressly or virtually represented as inferior to the sacred 
books by many writers. Vid. Hierarch. de Divin. Nomin. c. 4. 
Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. c. xxvi. Athan. Epist. 39. et Synop. 
Epiphan. de Pond, et Mensur. Philast. de Hseres. Prodiant. Au- 
gust, de Civit. Dei, lib. xvii. c. xx. p. 483. St. Austin considers 
the passage in ch. ii. 12 — 21. (but see to the end of the chapter) as 
a prophecy of the passion of Christ, but he does not regard it as au- 
thoritative, though received by the Western Church as the reputed 
work of Solomon. Hugo de S. Vict, de Script, et Scriptor. Sac. c, 
vi. Thom. Aquinas, in Dionys. de Divin. Nomin. c. iv. Lectio 9. 
p. 19. torn. x. edit. Antverpise, 1612. Du Pin, Diss. Prelim. 

8 As the third Council of Carthage, that of Sardis, and that of 
Constantinople in Trullo ; the eleventh of Toledo, and that of Flo- 
rence, provincial synods, or corrupt councils, unduly influenced, of 
which the canons relative to the Scriptures were in some instances 
forged or altered, and afterwards not received by oecumenical coun- 
cils. Vid. Cosin's Schol. Hist. Du Pin, Hist. Eccles. et Bib. Pat. 
torn. i. p. 1. and Arnald's note to Calmet's Preface. 

9 As Isidore, Nicephorus, Rabanus Maurus, Hugo, Lyran, Caje- 
tan. Vid. Mceph. lib. iv. c. xxxiii. Limborch. Theolog. Christ, 
lib. i. c. iii. Melch. Canus Loc. Theolog. lib. v. cap. ult. Baron. 
Ann. torn. viii. ad ann. 692. Calmet's Preface. 

1 Isidore in one place relates, that some persons reported that it 



OF THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON. 563 

The book was probably composed by an Hellenistical 
Jew ; but whether before or after Christ, has been dis- 
puted. Grotius is of opinion, that it was originally 
written in Hebrew by a Jew who lived at some time 
intermediate between Ezra and Simon the Just ; and 
that it was translated by a Christian, with some free- 
dom and additions of evangelical doctrine. But the 
style, as St. Jerom has observed, indicates rather the 
artificial contexture of Grecian eloquence, than the 
terseness and compressive simplicity of the Hebrew 
language. The book is also replete with allusions to 
Greek mythology, and with imitations of Grecian 
writers ; with whose works, and especially with those 
of Plato, the author appears to have been intimately 
acquainted. 

St. Jerom informs us, that many ancient writers 
affirmed that the Book of Wisdom was written by 
Philo Judaeus ; by whom the generality of commenta- 
tors 2 suppose to have been meant the Philo senior, 
who is mentioned by Josephus, as not unskilful in phi- 
losophy 3 ; and who appears to have been born before 
the time of Christ, though his life was prolonged until 
some time after the publication of the Gospel. 

was expunged from the Jewish canon because it contained a clear 
prophecy of Christ ; an idle fable, which Isidore must have discre- 
dited. Vid. Offic. lib. i. c. xii. 

2 Hieron. Prsef. in Proverb. Solom. Huet. Prop. 4. Bossuet 
Praef. in Lib. Sap. Driedo de Eccles. Dogmat. c. iv. 

3 Joseph. Antiq. lib. xviii. c. ix. p. 821. Josephus remarks, that 
Philo, and some other historians of whom he speaks, were entitled 
to indulgence, as they had it not in their power to become accurately 
acquainted with the Hebrew writings ; from which we may collect, 
that he was ignorant of the Hebrew language, and probably he was 
an Hellenistic Jew, which is consistent with the account of St. Jerom. 

o o 2 



564 OF THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON. 

There are many reasons which should lead us to sup- 
pose that the author lived before the birth of Christ 4 ; 
some passages in it, however, seem to intimate an ac- 
quaintance with the particulars of the Gospel dispensa- 
tion, and to be imitative of parts of the New Testament. 
A general conformity, also, has been observed between 
the doctrines and sentiments contained in this book 
and those dispersed through the works of Philo 5 , which 
we now possess, and hence some modern writers have 
assented to the opinion that he was the author of it 6 . 
Dr. Rainolds imagines that it was composed about a.d. 
42, upon the occasion of an order from the emperor 
Caligula, that his statue should be set up and adored in 
the temple 7 of Jerusalem, when Philo was sent to 
Rome by the Jews to plead against this profanation, but 
without effect. This supposition the learned writer 
defends, as consistent with the argument and drift of 
the Book of Wisdom; and to this theory he refers 
those precepts in the first and sixth chapters, which 
describe the duty of princes ; as well as the denuncia- 

Vid. Joseph, contr. Apion. lib. i. p. 1351. Some poetical frag- 
ments of Philo, relative to the Patriarchs, are cited by Alexander 
Polyhistor. Vid. Euseb. Praep. Evang. lib. vii. c. xiii. and ix. 20. 
24. Clem. Alex. Strom, lib. i. p. 333. 360. and 413. This Philo 
was a different person from Philo Biblius, who flourished under 
Adrian and Trajan. 

4 Origen, ILepl 'Apx^, lib. iv. p. 192. edit. Par. 1733. Euseb. 
Demonst. Evan. lib. i. c. vi. Selden de Pentateuch. 

5 First published at Paris by Turnebus in 1552, afterwards at 
London, by Dr. Mangey, in 1742, 2 vols. Vid. collated passages in 
Calmet's Dissertation sur l'Auteur du Livre de la Sagesse. 

6 Joh. Beleth de Div. Offic. c. Ix. Whitaker's Origin of Arian- 
ism,p. 132—136. 

7 Sueton. in Vita Caligulae, c. xxii. Joseph. Antiq. lib. xviii. c. 
ix. Rainolds, Censur. Apoc. Praelect. 22. 



OF THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON. 565 

tions against tyrants and idolatry ; and conceives that 
they were designed to convey admonition and reproof 
to Caligula, who had treated him with much insult. 

But notwithstanding the many presumptive argu- 
ments that have been urged in support of this opinion, 
there is some reason to believe that the work was not 
written by Philo of Alexandria 8 , but, indeed, previously 
to the birth of Christ. Some passages in it appear to 
be cited by writers who were nearly contemporary with 
Philo 9 ; and it is probable, that a work professing to 
be the production of Solomon, was published under the 
Jewish dispensation ; as, indeed, by the generality of 
writers it was supposed to be. 

The correspondence which has been conceived to 
exist between this book and the works of Philo, might, 
it is said, be occasioned by the plagiarism of the latter ; 
and the supposed resemblances between the passages 
in this book, and others in the New Testament, may 

8 This Philo was very conversant with the sacred writings, and 
indulged himself too much in fanciful explications of them. His 
works, which blend the principles of Plato with the doctrines of 
Scripture, are supposed to have been the source at which Origen and 
the mystical writers imbibed an extravagant spirit of figurative inter- 
pretation. Philo is represented to have lived in friendship with St. 
Peter at Rome in the reign of Claudius, to have been converted to 
Christianity, and to have afterwards apostatized. Vid. Joseph, lib. 
xviii. c. ix. Euseb. Hist. lib. ii. c. xvii. xviii. Phot. Cod. 105. 
Hieron. Catalog. Script. Eccles. c. xi. p. 106. torn. iv. Euseb. 
Praep. lib. vii. c. xii. Some authors maintain that the Book of Wis- 
dom differs widely from the style of Philo, and contains some prin- 
ciples very opposite to those laid down in his works. Vid. Calmet, 
Dissertation sur l'Auteur du Livre de la Sagesse, torn. v. 

9 Barnab. Epist. p. 61. edit. Coteler. 1700. from Wisd. ii. 12. 
Clem. Rom. Epist. ad Corinth, c. iii. p. 124. edit. Cotel. from Wisd. 
ii. 24. c. xxvii. from Wisd. xi. 22. and xii. 12. 



566 OF THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON. 

be thought on examination to be either imitations of 
similar passages in the sacred books of the Old Testa- 
ment l ; or such casual coincidences 2 of sentiment or 
expression as may be found between all works treating 
on the same subject. 

It need not, however, be supposed that the beautiful 
passage contained in the second chapter, though writ- 
ten before the coming of Christ, confers any character 
of inspiration on the book; for if we consider the 
description of the just man persecuted and condemned 
to a shameful death by his conspiring enemies, as 
bearing a prophetic aspect to the sufferings and con- 
demnation of our Saviour by the Jews ; it might still 
have been framed by a writer conversant with the 
prophetic books 3 , without any inspired knowledge. 

1 Thus Wisd. ii. 18. and Matt, xxvii. 43. might both be derived 
from Psal. xxii. 8, 9. ' So Wisd. iii. 7. and Matt. xiii. 43. might be 
from Dan. xii. 3. Wisd. ii. 7, 8. and 1 Cor. xv. 32. from Isa. xxii. 
13. and lvi. 12. Wisd. v. 18, 19. and Eph. vi. 14. from Isa. lix. 17. 
xi. 5. Wisd. vi. 7. and Acts x. 34, &c. from 2 Chron. xix. 7. or 
from Job xxxiv. 19. and Deut. x. 17. Wisd. ix. 9. and John i. 1 — 

3. 10. from Prov. viii. 22. Wisd. ix. 13. and Rom. xi. 34. or 
1 Cor. ii. 16. from Isa. xl. 13. Wisd. xv. 7. and Rom. ix. 21. 
from Isa. xlv. 9. and Jerem. xviii. 6. Wisd. xvi. 26. and Matt. iv. 

4. from Deut. viii. 3. Wisd. iii. 8. and 1 Cor. vi. 2, 3. from Dan. 
vii. 18 — 22. 

2 Comp. Wisd. vi. 3. with Rom. xiii. 1. Wisd. vii. 26. with 
Heb. i. 3. Wisd. xii. 24. with Rom. i. 23. Wisd. xiii. 1. with 
Rom. i. 19, 20. There is, however, no reason why the evangelical 
writers should not be supposed to have occasionally adopted the 
expressions, or even the sentiments of a pious though uninspired 
writer. 

3 Comp. ch. ii. especially cited by Barnabas, with Isaiah iii. 10. 
Ch. ii. 18. with Psalm xxii. 8. or xxi. 9. in the Septuagint. See 
also Matt, xxvii. 43. where David's prophetic expressions are used. 

3 



OF THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON. 567 

But it is, perhaps, only applicable by casual accommo- 
dation and undesigned resemblance to our Saviour, 
who might be eminently styled " the just man," and 
who was in an appropriate sense, the Son of God. The 
picture seems, indeed, to be general, and to resemble 
descriptions found in other writers 4 . 

The passages in which the author seems to personify 
the word of God 5 , and to attribute to it distinct powers 
and effects, are not to be regarded as intentionally 
prophetic of the attributes and operations of the second 
person in the Trinity ; but were probably founded on 
traditionary notions, designed as generally descriptive 
of God's omnipotent proceedings ; or they might be 
accidentally figurative of Christ's character, by being 
borrowed as to their expressions from parts of the 
sacred writings 6 . So likewise, those splendid enco- 
miums on wisdom with which the book abounds, 
though written with a piety highly enraptured and sub- 
lime, are not to be considered as inspired and concerted 
illustrations of that perfect wisdom which dwells in an 
especial degree in Christ ; but as designed only to cele- 
brate that created wisdom, which being derived as an 
emanation from God, reflects his unspotted perfec- 
tions, and irradiates the minds of those to whom it 
is imparted. The author, however, in imitation, per- 

The righteous are often called the sons of God in a general sense. 
Vid. Exod. iv. 22. Prov. i. 8. 10. and Wisd. xviii. 13. and v. 5. 

4 Plato de Repub. lib. ii. p. 361. Cicero de Repub. de Officiis, 
&c. Lactant. Institut. de Vero Cultu, lib. vi. sect. 17. ex Senecae 
Lib. Moral. Philosoph. 

5 Ch. ix. 1. xvi. 12, 13. 26. xviii. 15. 

6 Deut. viii. 3. xxxii. 39. 1 Sam. ii. 6. Psalm cvii. 20. 



568 OF THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON. 

haps, of Solomon's attractive imagery 7 , personifies this 
divine wisdom; and therefore the description neces- 
sarily bears a resemblance to the character of Christ, 
in whom the fulness of wisdom personally resided. 

But though the work does not appear to be imme- 
diately derived from that infallible Spirit of which the 
stamp and character are to be discovered only in the 
sacred books, it was evidently the production of a pious 
and enlightened writer ; of one, who by application to 
revealed wisdom, had acquired some portion of its 
excellence, and learnt to imitate its language. Except, 
indeed, in some few passages where we are tempted to 
suspect a taint of false prophecy 8 , or fictitious additions 
to the accounts of sacred history 9 , there is nothing in 
the book inconsistent with the accounts, or unfavour- 
able to the designs of revelation: it offers much sublime 
admonition to the princes and leaders of mankind ; it 
refers with great effect to the miracles of God l ; it 
paints in very eloquent description, the folly and con- 
sequences of idolatry ; overthrows many pernicious 
errors, and delivers just information concerning a future 
life and judgment. The first six chapters, which form, 
as it were, a preface to the book, are a kind of para- 

7 Prov. viii. The magnificent description which Solomon here 
gives of the Divine wisdom, was often applied by the ancient Chris- 
tians to that eternal wisdom which was revealed to mankind in 
Christ, or rather to our Saviour's person, who was himself the eternal 
word and wisdom of the Father. But it was, perhaps, only gene- 
rally applicable to God's revealed wisdom. Vid. Just. Mart. p. 267. 
edit. Thirlb. 

8 Ch. viii. 20. which seems to refer to the notion of the transmi- 
gration of souls. Arnald. et Calmet. 

9 Ch. xvi. 17—19. xvii. 3—6. ! Ch. xix. 7. 



OF THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON. 569 

phrase of the first nine chapters of the book of Pro- 
verbs ; in the seventh and eighth chapters, the author 
proposes himself as an example, under the name of 
Solomon ; the ninth chapter is a paraphrase of the 
prayer which Solomon made to the Lord at the begin- 
ning of his reign 2 ; and from the tenth chapter to the 
end is a continuation of the same prayer dilated; 
which, though extended to a considerable length by 
the intermixture of nice disquisitions and extraneous 
discourse, is still apparently imperfect. The style of 
this book is varied ; it is often tragical, and sometimes 
turgid, and not seldom elegant and sublime ; it abounds 
in epithets and poetical imagery. The author often 
imitates the sententious periods of Solomon, but with 
less success, says Bishop Lowth, than the writer of the 
succeeding book 3 . 

2 1 Kings iii. 6—9. 3 Prselect. Poet. 24. 



OF THE 



BOOK OF ECCLESIASTICUS. 



This Book, like the preceding, has sometimes been 
considered as scriptural and as the production of Solo- 
mon, from its resemblance to the inspired works of 
that writer 1 . In the Latin church it was esteemed the 
last of the five books attributed to him. It is cited as 
the work of that enlightened King by several of the 
Fathers ; was joined with his books in most of the 
copies ; and like them is written with a kind of metri- 
cal arrangement in the Alexandrian manuscript, being 
supposed to have been produced originally in metre 2 . 
Still, however, it must have been composed long after 
the time of Solomon, who with the succeeding pro- 
phets that flourished before and after the captivity is 
here mentioned 3 ; since the high-priest Simon, who 
lived a little before the Maccabees, is spoken of; since 
the words of Malachi are cited 4 ; and since the author 

1 Origen. Homil. xi. in Lib. Jesu-Nave. torn. ii. p. 425. ec|it. 
Paris, 1733. See also p. 340. et 488. Chrysost. adv. Judaeos, 
p. 683. torn. i. edit. Paris, 1718. See also p. 106. et 397. Cyprian 
de Mortalitat. p. 231. Epist. 65. p. 113. edit. Paris, 1726. et Hilar, 
in Psa. cxl. p. 536. edit. Paris, 1693. 

2 Epiphan. de Pond, et Mensur. 3 Chap, xlvii. 13, &c. 
4 Chap, xlviii. 10. from Malach. iv. 6. 



OF THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTICUS. 571 

describes himself under circumstances which could not 
have occurred to Solomon 5 . The book, therefore, can 
only be supposed to contain some scattered sentiments 
of Solomon, industriously collected 6 with other mate- 
rials for the work, by an Hebrew writer styled Jesus ; 
who professes himself the author 7 , and who is repre- 
sented to have so been by his grandson 8 ; but who, 
indeed, imitates the didactic style of Solomon, and like 
him assumes the character of a preacher. 

Jesus was, as we learn from the same authority, a 
man who had travelled much in the pursuit of know- 
ledge ; who was very conversant with the Scriptures, 
and desirous of producing, in imitation of the sacred 
writers, some useful work for the instruction of man- 
kind, and who, having collected together many valu- 
able sentences from the Prophets and other writers, 
compiled them into one work with some original addi- 
tions of his own composition. What this Jesus pro- 
duced in the Syriac, or vulgar Hebrew of his time, his 
grandson translated into Greek for the benefit of his 
countrymen in Egypt, who by long disuse had forgotten 
the Hebrew tongue. To this grandson we are indebted 

5 Chap, xxxiv. 11, 12. li. 6. 

6 Drus. Observat. lib. i. c. xviii. p. 1338. apud Crit. Sacr. torn, 
viii. Athanasius calls Jesus '07ra£oe rov ^oXofitivoc, Salomonis As- 
secla. Vid. Athan. Synop. p. 116. torn. ii. edit. Par. 1627. Bar- 
tolocc. Bib. Rabb. torn. i. p. 249. edit. Rom. 1675. 

7 Chap. 1. 27. 

8 See the second prologue. This prologue is in all the copies of 
the Vulgate, and in the Roman edition of the Greek. It is probably 
the authentic work of the grandson, though it is not in the Syriac or 
Arabic versions. Vid. Euseb. in Chron. Hieron. in Dan. ix. 
Epiphan. Haeres. 8. In the Roman edition of the Greek it is 
entitled simply " the Prologue." 



572 OF THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTICUS. 

for the possession of a valuable work, of which the 
original is now lost, though St. Jerom professes to have 
seen it 9 . The copies, of which Munster, and Paulus 
Fagius speak, were probably Ben Sira's alphabet, or 
modern translations from the Greek. 

It has been a subject of some dispute, whether the 
grandfather or grandson were the person who should 
be described as the son of Sirach. The book is entitled 
the Wisdom of Jesus, the son of Sirach ; and this title 
it should seem must apply to the author, as the book 
cannot be supposed to have been denominated by the 
name of the translator. The author, likewise, describes 
himself as the son of Sirach in the fifty-first chapter, 
which appears to be the work of the same author 1 . 
The translator who is usually called Jesus, is likewise 
styled the son of Sirach by Epiphanius 2 ; and by the 
author of the anonymous prologue, which is supposed 
to have been written by Athanasius, as it is extracted 
from the Synopsis attributed to him, and prefixed to 
this book 3 , in some Greek, and in all the Latin edi- 

9 Hieron. Prsef. in lib. Solom. St. Jerom informs us, that the 
Hebrew copy which he saw was entitled Parables (or Proverbs), on 
account probably of the proverbial and sententious form in which its 
precepts were conveyed. 

1 Grotius, without any reason, attributes it, together with the 
three last verses of the foregoing chapter, to the grandson. 

Epiphan. de Pond, et Mensur. Isidor. de Eccles. Offic. in lib. i. 
c. xii. Hieron. in Dan. cap. ix. p. 1112. torn. iii. August, de 
Doct. Christ, lib. ii. cap. viii. § 13. p. 18. torn. iii. edit. Antwerp, 
1700. Grotius, Drusius, &c. 

This prologue is prefixed to the Greek in the Antwerp Polyglot, 
and to some other Greek editions ; but it is not in the Roman 
edition, nor in the most ancient copies, nor in the Arabic or Syriac 
versions. Its accounts can therefore be received only as of the same 
authority as that of the Synopsis, which was probably written by 



OF THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTICUS. 573 

tions, as well as in our translation. It is not improba- 
ble, that the younger Jesus might likewise have been a 
son of Sirach, as names were often entailed in families. 
Genebrard 4 says, that Jesus, the author of this book, 
was a priest of the race of Joshua, the son of Jose- 
dech 5 ; and Isidore represents him as his grandson, 
though he must have lived much too long after Joshua 
to have been so nearly related to him 6 . Huet and 
Calmet, in agreement with some Rabbinical writers, 
suppose that the author was the same person with Ben 
Sira, a Jewish writer, of whom an alphabet of Proverbs 
is extant, both in Chaldee and Hebrew 7 , which corre- 
sponds in so many particulars with the book of Eccle- 
siasticus, that Huet, and other writers, have considered 
it as a corrupted copy of the Hebrew work of Jesus. 
If, however, as others contend, Ben Sira is to be con- 
sidered as a different person, and according to tradi- 
tionary accounts, the nephew of Jeremiah 8 , it must be 
admitted that the author of Ecclesiasticus has borrowed 

Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, who lived between a. d. 458 and 
490, above a century after the great Athanasius. 

4 Chronol. p. 16. 5 Haggai i. 1. 

6 Some Greek Manuscripts make the author a grandson of Eleazar. 
Vid. Drus. ad chap. i. 3. Others make him a contemporary with 
Eleazar ; and some writers pretend that he was one of the seventy 
interpreters sent by Eleazar to Ptolemy Philadelphus ; a person of 
the name of Jesus being mentioned in the list given by Aristasas. 
Huet supposes that Jesus, the grandson, was the same person with 
Josephus, the son of Uziel, and grandson of Ben Sira. 

7 Both were published with a Latin translation by Fagius ad Isna, 
in 1542. Ben Sira's book is said to have been received by the 
Jews, among the Hagiographa of secondary rank. Vid. David in 
Baba Cama, C. Hachobel. 

8 Buxtorf. et Bartolocc. Bib. Rabbin. 



574 OF THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTICUS. 

many things from his work ; since such a conformity 
as exists between them could scarcely be accidental 9 . 

The author of this book is by Calmet and others 
supposed to have flourished so late as under the Pon- 
tificate of Onias the Third ; and to have fled into Egypt 
on account of the afflictions brought on his country by 
Antiochus Epiphanes, about 171 years before Christ, 
to whose persecution they conceive that some parts of 
the book refer 1 . The passages, however, produced in 
support of this opinion, do not bear any direct relation 
to particular calamities, but contain only general sup- 
plications for prosperity, and for the triumphant res- 
toration of the Jewish tribes, which the people expected 
to experience in the advent of the Messiah. The 
eulogium contained in the fiftieth chapter was probably 
designed for Simon the Just, the first high-priest of the 
name of Simon, whom the author appears to have 
remembered, and who died a.m. 3711 2 ; and as the 
younger Jesus went into Egypt in the reign of Euer- 
getes the Second, surnamed Physcon, who was admitted 

9 Cornel, a Lapid. Com. in Ecclus. 

1 Chap, xxxvi. Vid. also ch. xxxiv. 12. xxxv. and li. which, 
however, contain no particulars exclusively applicable to the time of 
Antiochus. 

2 Two Simons, both high-priests, are mentioned by Josephus ; 
the first who died 292 years before Christ, is spoken of in Antiq. 
Jud. lib. xii. c. ii. p. 512. Euseb. in Chron. Genebr. Cornel, a 
Lapide. Drusius, et Prid. ann. 292. He is described to be the 
last of the Great Synagogue, and is supposed to have revised and 
completed the Canon. He is celebrated in this book. The second 
Simon was the son of Onias the Second. See Antiq. Jud. lib. xii. 
c. iv. p. 530. He opposed Ptolemy Philopater's entrance into the 
Sanctuary. See 3rd Book of Maccabees. Prid. ann. 217. p. 82. 
pars 2. 



OF THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTICUS. 575 

to a share of the throne a.m. 3835 3 , it is more proba- 
ble, that, agreeably to the calculations of other chrono- 
logists, the book was written about a.m. 3772; when 
the author was, perhaps, about seventy years of age : 
and that it was translated about sixty or sixty-three 
years after 4 : nearly at the time that it is supposed by 
Calmet to have been written. 

The translator professes to have found the book after 
he had continued some time in Egypt 5 , where it might 
have been deposited by his grandfather 6 ; it was called 
Ecclesiasticus 7 by the Latins, which title, though nearly 
synonymous with the Preacher, was designed to dis- 
tinguish it from the book of Ecclesiastes. In the Greek 
it is called the Wisdom of Jesus the son of Sirach 8 . 

3 He reigned twenty-four years in conjunction with Philometor, 
and twenty-eight years alone after the death of his brother. Vid. 
Usher's Annals, ann. a.c. 145. Vaillant in Ptolem. VII. ad an. 
Lagid. 192. Prid. Con. a.c. 169. 

4 Usher supposes it to have been translated 38 years earlier. 

5 It is uncertain from what sera the eighth and thirtieth year 
mentioned in the prologue is reckoned. It might be that of the 
translator's age. If we suppose it to have been the thirty-eighth 
year of Ptolemy's reign, above 100 years must have intervened 
between the time of writing and that of translating the book. 

6 It is probable that Jesus by tyopoiov, or d^o/^otov, meant a copy 
of this book. In the anonymous prologue, it is said, that Jesus 
received the book from his father, which perhaps he might, either in 
Egypt or elsewhere ; for he does not say absolutely that he found 
the book in Egypt, but that being in Egypt, and having found the 
book, he judged it worthy a translation. 

7 Some think that it was called Ecclesiasticus by way of eminence, 
as the most valuable of the ecclesiastical books. 

8 In the Roman edition it is improperly styled the Wisdom of 
Sirach. 



576 OF THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTIC US. 

It is much to be admired for the excellency of its 
precepts, and not one of the apocryphal books affords 
such store of admirable instruction as this. But it has 
no title to be considered as an inspired work : though 
it contains many passages derived from the sacred 
writings, and especially from those of Solomon 9 ; and 
some which have a slight resemblance to parts of the 
New Testament 1 , by accidental coincidence of thought 
and expression ; or by concurrent imitation of the early 
writers of the Old Testament. The book never was in 
the Hebrew canon ; nor was it received by the primi- 
tive church of Christ, since it is not in the most ancient 
and authentic catalogues, and is expressly represented 
as an uncanonical book by many ancient writers 2 . It 
is however, referred to with great reverence by the 
Fathers of the Greek and Latin church 3 , many of 
whom endeavoured to strengthen their religious opinions 
by the sentiments contained in a book so deservedly 
and so generally approved. It is cited as Scripture in 
a vague sense of the word by many provincial synods, 
and received as canonical in a lower degree by some 

9 Ecclus. passim, et Huet, prop. 4. § 11. p. 266. 

1 Huet, and marginal references in our Bible. 

2 Prol. of Jesus, Can. Apost. Can. 85. p. 43. Euseb. Hist. 
Eccles. lib. iv. c. xxvi. lib. vi. c. xxv. Athan. Epist. 39, et 
Synop. Epiphan. de Pond, et Mens. Philast. de Haeres. Prodiant. 
August, de Civit. Dei, lib. xvii. c. xx. Hieron. Praef. in lib. 
Solom. Niceph. lib. vi. c. xxxiii. 

3 Constit. Apost. lib. vii. c. xi. Clem. Alex. Paedag. lib. ii. 
p. 180. et 187. Origen in lib. Judic. Horn. iii. p. 464. et cont. Cels. 
lib. vi. Cyprian, de Haeres. Baptiz. p. 333. Epiphan. Haeres. 76. 
cont. Aetium. August, lib. de Grat. et lib. Arbit. cap. ii. § 3. 
p. 719. torn. x. edit. Paris, 1690. 



OF THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTICUS. 577 

councils and writers 4 towards the close and after the 
fourth century 5 . But it was universally considered as 
inferior to the books derived from the Hebrew canon, 
till received as of equal authority by the unadvised and 
indiscriminating decree of the Council of Trent 6 . 

All the copies of this book now extant vary con- 
siderably from each other ; and the Latin version, of 
which the date and author are uncertain, has many 
repetitions and additions introduced seemingly as para- 
phrastical ornaments by the translator, or some subse- 
quent writer. The Greek version having been made 
early and immediately from the original, is most en- 
titled to consideration. This translation, however, 
seems to have been composed with too servile adhe- 
rence to the original, and is often obscure. 

The translator was sensible of its defects, and appre- 
hensive, as he has been since accused, of misinterpreting 
the sense of his author 7 . There has been a derangement 
of chapters between the thirtieth and thirty-sixth 8 ; 
which, as well as many corruptions and variations, may 
be imputed to the carelessness of transcribers 9 . The 
old English versions, as those of Coverdale, and the 
Bishops' Bible, by too rigid adherence to the Vulgate, 
adopted many errors. Our last translators, though not 
servilely attached to any copy, seem chiefly to have 
regarded the Complutensian : which though suspected 

4 St. Augustin states it to have been received into authority prin- 
cipally by the Western Church, though it was not regarded by the 
learned as the work of Solomon. De Civit. Dei, lib. xvii. c. 20. 
p. 483. torn. vii. Paris, 1685. 

5 Concil. Carth. 3 Can. 47. 6 Condi. Trid. Sess. 4. 

7 Prologue of Jesus, and Drusius. 

8 Calmet Coram, in chap. xxx. 27. 9 Haeschelius. 

p P 



578 OF THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTIC!^. 

of conforming its Greek to the Vulgate, is by Dr. 
Grabe 1 mentioned with praise, as derived from the 
most ancient manuscripts. Their version is, however, 
in some places inaccurate and obscure, and sometimes 
erroneous. 

The work begins with an eulogium on Wisdom ; and 
many important instructions are delivered as far as the 
twenty-fourth chapter, when Wisdom herself is intro- 
duced, and is supposed to continue to speak, to the 
fifteenth verse of the forty-second chapter. Here the 
collection of wise sayings, which are obviously written 
in imitation of the Proverbs of Solomon, concludes: 
and the author solemnly enters upon a pious hymn, in 
which he celebrates God's Wisdom, in a strain highly 
rapturous and sublime, and finishes his work with a 
panegyric on the illustrious characters of his own 
nation, and a prayer or thanksgiving for some deliver- 
ance which the author had personally experienced 2 . 

This division, says Valesius 3 , is a manifest copy of 
the method and order of Solomon's writings : and pre- 
sents an imitation of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Can- 
ticles ; though some maintain that the author left his 
work imperfect 4 . The book contains a fine system of 

1 Grabe's Proleg. cap. iii. § 1. torn. iii. 

2 Prideaux, with Grotius, attributes this prayer to the grandson, 
because Ptolemy Physcon was a greater tyrant than his predeces- 
sors, in whose reigns the grandfather might have resided in Egypt ; 
but the author speaks only of false accusation to the king, which by 
no means implies that the king countenanced the persecution ; and, 
indeed, if he had, the author would hardly have escaped from, or at 
least have complained of the cruelty. The grandfather might like- 
wise have been accused before a king of some other country. 

3 Not. ad Script. Eccles, lib. iv. c. xxii. 

4 The anonymous prologue says, " almost perfected." 



OF THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTICUS. 579 

moral, political, and theological precepts ; arranged in 
a less desultory manner than the Proverbs of Solomon ; 
and distributed under certain heads, which seem to 
have been formerly classed under different titles : many 
of which are still extant in some of the Greek copies. 
Some learned men have pretended to discover in the 
book the more secret and abstruse wisdom ascribed to 
Solomon, and taught in the schools of the Jewish 
doctors 5 . The advocates of the superstitions of the 
Romish church have attempted to vindicate masses 
and prayers for the dead, from a passage in this book, 
which, however, relates only to a liberal regard to the 
interment of the dead, and consolatory largesses to their 
surviving friends and the poor. Other parts have been 
thought to imply the notion that some were exempt 
from the corruption of sin 6 , and that atonement for 
transgressions may be made by good works operating 
to the repentance of others 7 . It is chiefly valuable 
for the familiar lessons which it affords for the direction 
of manners in every circumstance and condition, and 
for the general precepts which it communicates towards 
the daily regulation of life. Its maxims are explained 
by much variety of illustration, and occasionally exem- 
plified in the description of character. The ancient 
writers entitled it Havapfroc, considering it as a com- 
plete compendium of moral virtues ; and, perhaps, 
no uninspired production ever displayed a morality 
more comprehensive, or more captivating and con- 
sistent with the revealed laws of God. The book 
imparts, also, an instructive detail of the sentiments 

5 Chap. vii. 33. See also Lee's Dissertat. on the Second Book of 
Esdras, p. 58. See also Jerem. xvi. 7. Tobit. iv. 17. 

Chap. xiii. 24. 7 Chap. iii. 3. 30. xvii. 22. xxxv. 3. 

P p 2 



580 OF THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTICUS. 

and opinions that prevailed in the time of the author; 
the impatience for the appearance of the expected 
Messiah 8 ; and the firm confidence in the hope of a 
future life and judgment, which had been built upon 
the assurances of the Law and the Prophets. It serves 
likewise to prove, that as the Gospel dispensation ap- 
proached, the Jews were prepared for its reception, by 
being more enlightened to understand the spiritual 
import and figurative character of the Law. 



8 Chap, xxxvi. 1 — 17. the first part of which is cited by St. 
Augustin as a kind of prophetic prayer fulfilled by the advent of 
Christ, but as not to be produced with confidence, inasmuch as the 
book was not in the Jewish Canon. Vid. August, de Civit. Dei, 
lib. xvii. c. xx. See also chap. i. 22, 23. These pious suppli- 
cations for some future blessings indistinctly described, proceeded 
from a confidence in the promises of the Prophets ; and the Jews 
who, in the expectation of their Messiah, had at first regard only to 
one advent, looked to the full accomplishment of the prophecies in 
his arrival, and, therefore, allude in their prayers to the expected 
conversion of the Gentiles ; the final congregation of the tribes ; and 
their triumphant victories, which remain yet to be fulfilled. The 
prayer spoken of in chap li. 10, is supposed by Whittaker to contain 
an acknowledgment of the second person in the Godhead, and is 
adduced as a proof of the belief of the Jews in that essential doctrine, 
before the incarnation of our Lord. See Origin of Arianism dis- 
closed, p. 122. 



OF THE 



BOOK OF B A RUCK, 



WITH THE 



EPISTLE OF JEREMIAH, 



The author of this Book professes himself to be Baruch; 
a person of very illustrious birth, and distinguished by 
his attachment to Jeremiah. He had been employed 
by that prophet as a scribe or secretary, to write his 
prophecies ] ; and on some occasions to read them to 
those against whom they were directed. St. Jerom, 
Grotius, and others, are, however, of opinion, that the 
book was not written by Baruch, or in the Hebrew 
language ; but by some Hellenistical Jew, who assumed 
the character of Baruch ; and that the letter which 
forms a part of the book, was fabricated by his own 
invention 2 . But there is, perhaps, not any sufficient 
reason to dispute the authenticity of the five first 
chapters ; and the sixth chapter, which is probably 
spurious, did not originally belong to this book. The 

1 ("hap. i. 1. Jerem. passim. Joseph. Antiq. lib. x. c. ix. p. 
451. and chapter on Jeremiah in this work. Josephus styles him 

2 Hieron, Procem. in Com. et Grot. Com. in Baruch* 



582 OF THE BOOK OF BARUCH. 

Greek version of these five chapters abounds with He- 
braisms ; if written in Hebrew, they are not now ex- 
tant in that language, nor were ever admitted into the 
Hebrew canon 3 : because Baruch, however he might 
have aspired to the prophetic character, and have 
sought great things for himself 4 , was not endowed 
with the gift of inspiration ; though he was on one 
occasion made the subject of a divine revelation, and 
honoured by a consolatory assurance from God. 

The author, in consistency with the character of 
Baruch, whether rightly or falsely assumed, describes 
himself as the son of Nerias, and as the grandson of 
Maasias, who were men of eminence in their country. 
He affirms, that he wrote the book at Babylon, in the 
fifth year, and in the seventh day of the month 5 , after 
the Chaldseans had taken and burnt Jerusalem ; by 
which must be understood the fifth year of Jehoiachin's 
captivity, which corresponds with the fifth year of 
the reign of Zedekiah, and A. M. 3409 : when Baruch 
accompanied his brother Seraias to Babylon 6 , who was 



3 Hieron. Prolog, in Jeremiam. 

4 Jerem. xlv. 5. which some conceive to allude to a fruitless 
desire of Baruch that he might be favoured with the prophetic spirit. 
Vid. Maimon. More Nevoch. p. ii. cap. xxxii. p. 286. 

5 The name of the month is not specified ; it probably means the 
month Cisleu, or November, the same month in which Jerusalem 
was taken five years before. 

6 Some would place Baruch's journey to Babylon in the eleventh 
year of Zedekiah, when Baruch was carried into Egypt ; when Jeru- 
salem and the temple were destroyed ; when no high-priest remained, 
and no feasts were celebrated, contrary to the circumstances of the 
period of this book. The fifth year cannot be referred to Nebuchad- 
nezzar, who had obtained his empire seven years before Jehoiachin 
was carried into captivity. 



OF THE BOOK OF BARUCH. 583 

deputed from Zedekiah to solicit the restoration of the 
sacred vessels of the temple, which had been carried 
away among the spoil 7 . It has been objected as in- 
consistent with this account, that Jerusalem is, in this 
book, represented as burnt, and in circumstances of dis- 
tress greater than should seem to have occurred at the 
time that Jehoiakim was taken prisoner and slain. 
But allowing for those aggravations which are custom- 
ary in the description of great afflictions, there is no 
particular in the detail of circumstances that might not 
have happened during the siege of Jerusalem in the 
reign of Jehoiakim : when the Jews might have seen 
part of their city burnt, and have suffered from the 
most cruel extremities of famine 8 . 

It is probable that Baruch was more immediately 
commissioned by Jeremiah to utter at Babylon those 
prophecies which were entrusted to Seraias 9 ; and that 
he actually did read to Jehoiachin, and others whom 
they concerned, the prophecies contained in the fiftieth 
and fifty-first chapters of Jeremiah, which promised 
deliverance to the Jews from their captivity, and future 
destruction to Babylon : though when Baruch speaks 
of having read the words of this book to the people by 

7 The vessels which Seraias obtained, appear to have been silver 
vessels, which Zedekiah had made to supply the place of the golden 
vessels which had been carried away by Nebuchadnezzar, the rapa- 
city of the conquerors having soon afterwards seized on these also, 
vid. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 7 — 10. Jeremiah had declared that the golden 
vessels should not soon be brought again, chap, xxvii. 46. and the 
most valuable were not restored till the expiration of the captivity. 
Vid. Dan. v. 2. Ezrai. 7. Grotius considers the latter part of ch. i. 
8. as an interpolation. 

8 Ch. i. 2. ii. 2—5. 

9 Jer. Ii. 59 — 64. See also p. 369 of this work. 



584 OF THE BOOK OF BARUCH. 

the river *\\\ he seems to allude only to the epistle 
which forms the chief subject of this book, which was 
sent by Jehoiachin and his associate captives in Baby- 
lon, to Joachim, the son of Chelcias 2 , and the people 
at Jerusalem ; for Baruch being probably employed to 
compose the letter, may well be conceived to have read 
it to the king and the nobles for their approbation. 

The captives, who appear to have been tutored by 
affliction to a sense of their own unworthiness, and to 
have felt a pious satisfaction at the success of the de- 
putation of SeraiaSj sent back with the sacred vessels 
a collection of money to purchase burnt-offerings and 
incense for the altar of the Lord ; and transmitted with 
it a letter to their countrymen, in which they expressed 
their sentiments of humility and repentance, and their 
confident hopes of that restoration which the Prophets 
had encouraged them to expect, and which prefigured 
the future glories of Jerusalem 3 . 

1 Ch. i. 4. This river is not mentioned by geographers. As the 
Hebrew word it, which might have been the original, means pride, 
some writers have considered it as a figurative expression for the 
Euphrates, descriptive of the turgid swell of the river, on which some 
of the Jewish captives were placed. Vid. Jerem. li. 63. Bochart 
thinks that the word should be Sori or Suri, (which in the Hebrew 
is written in nearly the same manner) because there was on the banks 
of the Euphrates, a city called Sura or Sora (as also Mahasia) from 
which that part of the Euphrates might have taken its name. Vid. 
Bochart. Phaleg. lib. i. c. viii. p. 39. edit. Cadom. Cellarii Geogr. 

* This person was probably the same with Eliakim, or Hilkiah, 
who was high priest under Manasseh and Josiah, and perhaps under 
their successors. Vid. Isaiah xxii. 20. 2 Kings xxii. 4 — 8. xxiii. 
4. 24. 2 Chron. xxxiv. 9. and Calmet. Dissert, sur 1'Ordre et la 
Succession des Grand Pretres des Juifs, torn. iii. p. 447. 

3 Irenseus Adv. Haeres. lib. v. c. xxxv. p. 458. edit. Grabe, and 



OF THE BOOK OF BARUCH. 585 

The letter, which, after a short historical preface, 
begins at the tenth verse of the first chapter, contains 
a confession which the captives recommended to their 
brethren, to be used upon solemn days. It exhorts 
them to pray for the life of Nebuchadnezzar, who had 
complied with their request, and possibly been indul- 
gent to the captives ; to acknowledge that God's judg- 
ments were righteous, and that by their own disobe- 
dience they had provoked the accomplishment of those 
curses which the Almighty had threatened 4 , and which 
they then experienced ; and, lastly, to supplicate his 
mercies with sorrow and' contrition. This prayer was 
probably used, also, by the captives themselves, and the 
sentiments which it contains were similar to those 
which Daniel and Nehemiah continued to inculcate 
during and after the captivity 5 . In the third chapter 
is contained a passage 6 , which Grotius hastily pro- 
nounces to be an addition by some Christian ; and 
which others consider as an inspired prophecy of the 
incarnation and human intercourse of the Messiah ; but 
which may be regarded as a personification of Divine 
wisdom, which had manifested itself to the Patriarchs, 
and revealed its precepts in converse with mankind 7 . 
It has, however, so far a prophetic cast, as it is imitative 
of passages 8 which, under praises of wisdom, figura- 

4 Deut. xxviii. 15 — 53. and the Prophets passim. 

5 Comp. chap. i. 15 — 17. with Dan. ix. 5. 7. 9. Chap. ii. 7 — 11. 
with Dan. ix. 13 — 15. Chap. ii. 15. with Dan. ix. 19. Chap. ii. 
19. with Dan. ix. 18. Chap. i. 15, 16. with Nehem. ix. 32. 34. 
Chap. ii. 11, 12. with Nehemiah ix. 10. 

6 Comp. chap. iii. 35 — 37. with John i. 14. 

7 Exod. xxiv. 9—18. 

8 Comp. chap. iii. 37. with Pro v. viii. 31. The passage is per- 

3 



586 OF THE BOOK OF BARUCH. 

tively celebrate that eternal wisdom which dwelt among 
us in the person of the Son of God. So, likewise, 
Baruch speaks with an almost prophetic confidence of 
those blessings which Jeremiah and other Prophets 
might have taught him to expect from " the everlasting 
Saviour " who should soon appear 9 ; of that joy which 
should come from the East l ; and of the triumphant 
glory with which Jerusalem should be exalted, and her 
sons assembled from all kingdoms in righteousness and 
peace. These, however, were prospects of future ex- 
ultation with which all in captivity must have consoled 
their affliction; they were general characters of the 
kingdom of the Messiah which every one conversant 
with the sacred writings was capable of describing, and 
by no means conferred the stamp of inspiration on the 
book, which was not received as canonical by the Jews, 
or the primitive church of Christ 2 , though it be cited 
with respect, and even as Divine Scripture, by many of 
the earlier writers 3 . 

Some, indeed, have imagined, that St. Athanasius 4 , 

haps in this respect, cited as prophetic by St. Augustin, who says, 
that it was by a more prevailing opinion attributed to Jeremiah. Vid. 
de Civit. Dei, lib. xviii. c. xxxiii. p. 515. 
9 Chap. iv. 22—30. 

1 Comp. ch. iv. 36, 37. with Jerem. xxiii. 5. and Zech. vi. 12. 
where the word " Branch" is in the Septuagint rendered 'AvaToXrj, 
the East. Vid. also Ezek. xliii. 4. and Mai. iv. 2. 

2 Hieron. Prol. in Jerem. p. 526. edit. Par. 1704. 

3 Clem. Alex. Paed. lib. ii. c. iii. p. 189. Euseb. Demon. Evang. 
lib. vi. c. xix. p. 294. Ambrose de Fide, lib. i. c. iii. p. 449. torn, 
ii. edit. Par. 1690. Hilar. Prol. in Psalm, p. 9. edit. Par. 1693. 
Cyril, in Jul. lib. viii. p. 267. edit. Lipsiae, 1696. 

4 Athan. Epist. 39. vol. i. pars Secunda, p. 962. It is described 
as apocryphal in the Synopsis, vol. ii. p. 201. edit. Par. 1698. 



OF THE BOOK OF BARUCH. 587 

and St. Cyril, received it as canonical. In the cata- 
logues, it is true, of the sacred books handed down to 
us by these Fathers, as also in the Greek copies of the 
canons of the Council of Laodicea, Baruch and the 
epistle are enumerated with Jeremiah and the Lamen- 
tations ; but it is probable, and generally supposed, that 
by this exegetical detail, were meant only those parts 
of Jeremiah which we receive as inspired ; that the 
epistle in the twenty-ninth chapter of his prophecies is 
specified as a distinct part of the work ; and that Baruch 
is mentioned because he was considered as a collector 
of Jeremiah's writings, and by some thought to have 
added the fifty-second chapter to his prophecies. It is 
certain that Baruch and the epistle are not mentioned 
in the catalogue of St. Augustin, nor in that of the 
Council of Carthage 5 . Baruch, with the rest of the 
apocryphal books, is expressly excluded from the cata- 
logues received from antiquity, by the Greek church 6 ; 
and the members of the Council of Trent were more 
perplexed, and deliberated longer about the admission 
of Baruch, than of any of the apocryphal books 7 , be- 
cause they acknowledged (as it was not in the Latin 
copies of the catalogue) that it was not received by the 
Council of Laodicea ; by that of Carthage ; or by the 

5 Concil. Carthag. Ann. 397. Can. 47. et Cod. Can. EccJes. 
African. Can. 24. p. 1061. in neither of which is Baruch mentioned. 
It is, however, possible, that the council or councils to which these 
canons belonged, received Baruch as canonical in a secondary sense ; 
for though it is not mentioned in the list, it might be included under 
the name of Jeremiah, and received as the other apocryphal books. 

6 Metrophanes Crytopylus Epitom. Confess. Orient. 

7 History of the Council of Trent, lib. ii. 



588 OF THE BOOK OF BARUCH. 

Roman Pontiffs 8 ; and the Tridentine Fathers were 
withholden from rejecting it, principally, it should seem, 
by the consideration that parts of it were read in the 
service of the church. 

Many ancient writers have cited Baruch under the 
name of Jeremiah 9 ; not that they believed that what 
we now possess under the name of Baruch was actually 
composed by Jeremiah, but that they considered Ba- 
ruch as a disciple of the Prophet ; and imagined, per- 
haps, that the epistle in the last chapter of his book 
was really written by Jeremiah, to whose canonical 
works it was formerly joined. In the Romish church, 
the book is read at the feast of Pentecost, under the 
name of Jeremiah 1 ; but many of the Romanists do not 
scruple to deny its authority 2 , and it seems to contain 
some passages not likely to have proceeded from an 
inspired writer, or from Baruch 3 . 

Besides the Greek copy of this book, there are two 
Syriac versions, one of which corresponds with and the 
other differs much from the Greek 4 . 



8 It is not specified in the suspected epistle of Pope Innocent the 
First. Vid. Epist. 3. ad Exuper. 

9 Irenaeus Hseres. lib. v. c. xxxv. Clem. Alex. Psedag. lib. i. 
c. x. p. 152. Chrysost. cont. Judse. p. 559. torn. i. edit. Paris, 
1718. Ambrose in Psalm cxviii. Serm. 18. p. 1194. torn. i. edit. 
Paris. Basil Advers. Eunom. lib. iv. p. 294. edit. Paris, 1721. 
Cyprian. Testimon. lib. ii. c. vi. p. 286. edit. Paris, 1726. See also 
de Orat. Domin. p. 205. 

1 Office du Samedi de la Pentecote, Prophetie, vi. 

2 Driedo Script, et Dogm. ad Eccles. lib. i. cap. ult. Lyran. 
Dionys. Cartlms. 

3 Compare chap. vi. 3. with Jerem. xxix. 10. 

4 The Latin translation also differs much from the Greek. 



OF THE BOOK OF BARUCH. 589 

The letter which constitutes the sixth chapter of 
this book is in some editions of the Greek, and in the 
Arabic, which is translated from the Greek, subjoined 
to the Lamentations. It is admitted by Theodoret in 
his commentary, and is not to be found in several 
Greek manuscripts, and in none of the Hebrew copies 
of Jeremiah's writings. It is probably a spurious work, 
and is rejected as such by St. Jerom 5 ; though cited by 
Cyprian as an inspired work of Jeremiah 6 , and by 
others, as an epistle of that Prophet ; and supposed by 
some to be alluded to by the author of the Second 
Book of Maccabees 7 , who, however, only speaks of 
Jeremiah's general exhortations against idolatry. The 
letter certainly never was in the Jewish canon. It was 
probably fabricated by some writer who had studied 
the character and writings of Jeremiah ; and it contains 
judicious and spirited strictures upon idolatry, of which 
the vanity is forcibly exposed. There is, besides these 
works in the Syriac language, an epistle attributed to 
Baruch, which is called his first epistle ; and feigned to 
have been written to the nine tribes and a half, said 
to be carried beyond the Euphrates. It appears to be 
a spurious production of a writer acquainted with the 
Gospel doctrines ; and is interspersed with many fic- 
titious inventions. It was possibly brought forward s 
by some of those monks, who during the first ages 
of the Christian church, flocked in numbers to inhabit 
the deserts of Syria. 

Baruch, after the execution of his commission, ap- 

5 Hieron. Prol. in Jerem. Jerom calls it ■^evceiriypa^ov, torn. iii. 
p. 526. edit. Par. 1704. 

Cyprian, de Orat. Domin. p. 205. 7 2 Mace. ii. 1, 2. 

8 Huet. Demonst. Evang. Prop. 4. p. 215. 



590 OF THE BOOK OF BARUCH. 

pears to have returned to Jerusalem; where, in con- 
junction with Jeremiah, he encountered much persecu- 
tion, and witnessed the total destruction of Jerusalem ; 
after which he was drawn by Johanan, with Jeremiah, 
and the remnant of Judah, into Egypt 9 ; from which 
country he possibly retired, since Josephus states that 
God had revealed to Jeremiah, the impending fate of 
those who had fled thither ; and some pretend that he 
went a second time to Babylon \ and died there, about 
a. m. 3428 2 . In the martyrologies his death is placed 
on the 28th of September, apparently without any 
authority. 

9 Jerem. xliii. 5 — 7. Hieron. in Esaiarn. 

1 Joseph. Antiq. lib. x. c. ix. p. 454. edit. Hudson, see also 
Jerem. xliv. 27—30. 

2 Talm. Megill. cap. i. 11. Abrah. Zacut. in Lib. Juchas. 



OF THE 

SONG OF THE 
THREE CHILDREN 



In some copies of the Greek version of Theodotion, 
and in the vulgar Latin edition of the Bible, this hook 
is inserted betAveen the twenty-third and twenty-fourth 
verses of the third chapter of Daniel ; as at the begin- 
ning of the book is prefixed, the History of Susannah, 
and at the end is added, that of the destruction of Bel 
and the Dragon ; but none of these additions are to be 
found in any Hebrew copy, nor do they appear ever to 
have existed in the Hebrew or Chaldaic language '. 
The pretended Hebraisms which have been alleged to 
prove their authenticity, are such as an Hellenist ical 
Jew might be expected to have used ; or were, perhaps, 
designedly adopted to facilitate the reception of spu- 
rious works. These apocryphal parts appear to have 
been first inserted in the Septuagint version 2 ; and they 
were certainly in Theodotion's edition, though there 
distinguished by an obelus, to intimate that they were 

1 Origen Epist. ad African, p. 14. torn. i. edit. Par. note a. 

2 The Song of the Three Children is not in the Vatican copy of 
the Septuagint. Comp. also p. 553 of this work. 



592 OF THE SONG 

not in the Hebrew. It is probable, that one and the 
same author invented, or composed from traditional 
accounts, all these apocryphal additions, which he inter- 
wove with the genuine work of Daniel. Annexed to, 
or incorporated with the inspired book, they gradually 
rose into reputation ; and being safe from censure under 
the sanction of the Prophet's name, and the appro- 
bation of the church, which suffered them to be read 
for instruction of manners, they were perhaps, some- 
times considered in a loose and popular representation, 
as a part of the genuine work of Daniel. 

It is, however, universally admitted, that they never 
were in the Hebrew canon 3 , and they were omitted as 
spurious by Eusebius 4 and Apollinarius. St. Jerom, 
who considers them as apocryphal, professes to have 
retained them with a mark prefixed, lest he should 
appear to the unskilful, to have rescinded a great part 
of Daniel's book ; since, though they were not in the 
Hebrew, they were generally dispersed and known 5 ; 
and, under the character of a Jew, endeavours to 
expose the absurdity of some particulars which they 
contain. There can, indeed, be no doubt that they 
were produced long after the time of Daniel, by some 
writer desirous of imitating and of embellishing the 

3 Hieron. Praef. in Dan. Calmet's Preface in Dan. Du Pin. 
Diss. Prelim, lib. i. c. i. 

4 Euseb. Eccles. Hist. lib. iv. c. 26. Lib. vi. c. 25. 

5 Praef. in Daniel. When St. Jerom, in his apology against 
Ruffinus, professes to have delivered only the sentiments of the 
Jews, and not his own, with respect to these additional parts of 
Daniel, he does not retract his sentiments, but evades the discussion 
of their authority"; and as the Scholiast observes, " Vafre respondet." 
Vid. Apol. adv. Ruff. lib. ii. p. 431. torn. iv. edit. Par. 1706. et 
Scholia. 



OF THE THREE CHILDREN. 593 

sacred history, though as they were not expressly 
severed from the canonical part by any positive decree, 
they were received by the decision of the Council of 
Trent as genuine, and in every respect canonical 6 . 
It is uncertain at what time they were composed. 
They are in the Arabic and Syriac version of the 
Scriptures, and are mentioned very early by Christian 
writers. 

The present book, which contains only a song in 
praise of God, said to have been uttered by the three 
companions of Daniel when thrown by Nebuchadnez- 
zar into a burning furnace, is to be admired for its in- 
struction and tendency. These righteous persons, whose 
reputation was founded on the authentic accounts of 
Daniel 7 , appear by their pious fortitude to have con- 
tributed with the Prophet to the final suppression of 
idolatry. The veneration entertained for their charac- 
ter, of which the memory was highly celebrated among 
the Jews 8 , probably induced some Hellenistic Jew to 
fabricate this ornamental addition to their history. It 
must have been inserted at a very early period, since it 
is cited by Cyprian as Scripture 9 . The work is com- 
posed with great spirit, and the sentiments attributed to 
the holy children are consistent with the piety for which 

6 Concil. Trid. Sess. 4. S. Concil. p. 746. edit. Par. 1672. 

7 Dan. iii. 23. 

8 There was an ancient tradition that the Three Children were 
descendants of Hezekiah. Vid. Nazianz. Orat. 47. Some accounts 
report, that at last they suffered martyrdom, as also that their 
bodies, which had been interred at Babylon, were afterwards re- 
moved to Rome. Some Jews at Rome boasted of a descent from 
them. 

9 Cyprian, de Lapsis, p. 191. edit. Par. 1726. et de Orat. Domin. 
p. 206. 

Q q 



594 OF THE SONG OF THE THREE CHILDREN. 

they were distinguished. The hymn resembles the 
148th Psalm of David as to its invocation on all the 
works of creation to praise and exalt the Lord. It was 
sung in the service of the primitive church ; and in the 
Liturgy of Edward the Sixth, the Rub rick enjoined 
that, during Lent, the Song of the Three Children should 
be sung instead of the Te Deum. 



OF THE 



HISTORY OF SUSANNAH. 



This history, which in some Greek copies is entitled 
the Judgment of Daniel, is said in the short intimation 
prefixed to the book by our translators, to have been 
set apart from the beginning of Daniel, where it stands 
in the Roman and other editions of the Greek. The 
Complutensian, however, and some Latin editions, 
place it as the thirteenth chapter of that book, though 
certainly with less regard to chronology ; for the history, 
if founded on truth, must be supposed to have taken 
place when Daniel was very young, and probably, ac- 
cording to some accounts \ not above twelve years of 
age. 

The book has not any sufficient pretension to be con- 
sidered as canonical. Some writers, however, and even 
Origen, if, indeed, we may consider as authentic the 
epistle attributed to him 2 , have conceived that it might 
first have been written in the Hebrew or Chaldee, and 
drawn from the canon by the Jews ; and that the ori- 
ginal manuscripts were industriously suppressed by 

1 Ignat. Epist. ad Magnesianos, p. 50. edit. Usserii, 1644. Sulpit, 
Sever. Sac. Hist. lib. ii. p. 265. edit. Lug. Bat. 1647. 

2 Origen Epist. ad Jul. African. 

Qq 2 



596 OF THE HISTORY OF SUSANNAH. 

them, because they contained a relation of particulars 
discreditable to the Jewish nation. But there is cer- 
tainly not any foundation for this fancy; for not to 
mention the impracticability of such a measure 3 , it is 
evident, that if the Jews could have been tempted by 
any solicitude for their national character to mutilate 
the sacred writings, they would rather have expunged 
those passages in the inspired books which reflect on 
them the disgrace — not of individual profligacy, but of 
general misconduct ; or those which record the crimes 
and occasional offences of favourite characters. But 
we know with what jealous veneration the canon was 
preserved inviolate ; and perceive in the whole history 
of a perverse and disobedient people, with what sin- 
cerity they composed, and with what fidelity they pre- 
served the records and annals of their country. 

The present book appears to have been written in 
Greek, by some Jew who invented the history, or col- 
lected its particulars from traditionary relations, in 
praise of Daniel. And, indeed, the author has been 
supposed to betray himself to be a Greek, by some 
quibbling allusions which do not seem to apply in any 
other language than the Greek 4 , and which are not 
likely to be the conceits of a translator. There are 
two Syriac versions, which differ in their contents. 

3 See Introduction, p. 11, &c. 

4 When the first elder affirms that he beheld Susannah under a 
tree called ayivov) Daniel playing on the word, declares that the 
angel should ayioai b cut him in two ; and when the second repre- 
sents the tree to have been Trplvov, Daniel denounces his sentence by 
an expression from which irpivov was derived, 7rpiaai. The author, 
however, of the epistle attributed to Origen, speaks of two " exem- 
plaria" as translations, the one by the Seventy, and the other by 
Theodotion. 



OF THE HISTORY OF SUSANNAH. 597 

The history might, perhaps, have some foundation in 
truth, though it is not mentioned by Josephus : who, 
indeed, has not noticed any of the particulars contained 
in these apocryphal additions to the Book of Daniel. 
The Prophet is represented in it as a youth in the days 
of Astyages, though he was carried to Babylon in the 
reign of Jehoiachim. The Jews in general rejected it 
as an improbable fable ; and remarked, that it was an 
obvious absurdity to suppose that their countrymen in 
the captivity were in possession of the power of inflict- 
ing punishment on their Judges and Prophets 5 . They 
had, however, some traditional accounts of the story, 
and many imagined that it was alluded to by Jeremiah, 
in the twenty-ninth chapter of his book 6 of prophecies ; 
where they supposed the two elders to be described 
under the names of Zedekiah and Ahab; though these 
persons are there said to have been put to death by the 
king of Babylon. Origen, who defends the truth of the 
history 7 , maintains that the Jews were suffered to con- 
tinue in the exercise of their own judicial laws, during 
the captivity ; and, indeed, they appear to have expe- 
rienced, in many respects, considerable indulgence from 
their conquerors. Origen adds, likewise, as a confirma- 
tion of the verity of the account, that he had heard 
from a Jew, as a popular notion, that the elders at- 
tempted to mislead Susannah by assurances that the 
Messiah should spring from her ; to which profane 

5 Hieron. in Jerem. ch. xxix. 22. torn. iii. p. 668. 

6 Chap. xxix. 22, 23. 

7 Epist. ad African. " Selecta in Ezechielem," c. vi. p. 416. Clem. 
Alex. Strom, lib. iv. p. 618. Athan. Synops. in Daniel, p. 168. 
Sixt. Senens. lib. v. Annot. 250. p. 422. 



598 OF THE HISTORY OF SUSANNAH. 

dealing Daniel is supposed to allude in the fifty-seventh 
verse. 

The book seems to have been received with some 
regard by the Christian church, as containing a relation 
not inconsistent with the sacred history, or devoid of 
use, but not as the real production of Daniel ; though, 
as forming an appendage to his work, and as containing 
an account of circumstances in which he was concerned, 
it was sometimes cited under his name 8 ; and being 
read by the church, was considered with reverence. 
Africanus, however, in his epistle to Origen, represents 
it as confessedly spurious ; and Origen himself, or the 
author of the epistle attributed to him, allows that it 
had no canonical authority 9 . Eusebius and Apollina- 
rius, in answer to Porphyry, consider it as a part of the 
prophecy of Habakkuk, the son of Jesus, of the tribe of 
Levi : for which, however, they do not appear to have 
any authority, except that of the Greek title prefixed 
to Bel and the Dragon ; which probably belonged 
exclusively to that book 1 . It is received, together 
with the other spurious additions, as canonical by the 
Romish church; but is suffered to continue in our 
Bibles only as a work from which moral improvement 
may be drawn. It illustrates the confidence of truth, 
and the security of innocence. It exhibits, by an in- 
structive contrast, chastity in its most attractive co- 
lours, and licentiousness in its most hideous form. 

8 Irenasus Haeres. lib. iv. c. xliv. edit. Grabe, 1702. See also 
Tertull. de Coron. p. 344. edit. Grabe, 1702. Milit. c. iv. Cyprian. 
Epist. 43. Ambrose in c. xiii. Dan. 

9 Origen Epist. ad Jul. African, et Grabe de Vit. Sept. Interpret. 
1 Huet. Prop. 4. in Dan. p. 225. edit. Par. 1679. 



OF THE 



HISTORY OF 
BEL AND THE DRAGON, 



This Book, which, in Theodotion's version of Daniel, 
and in the Vulgate, is annexed as a fourteenth chapter 
to the Book of Daniel, is properly rejected by our 
church ; as not having been in the Hebrew canon, or 
received as authentic by the earlier Christians. In the 
Septuagint version of the Scriptures, into which these 
spurious parts of Daniel appear to have been first 
foisted, there was prefixed to this book a title, by which 
it was called the Prophecy of Habakkuk, the son of 
Jesus, of the tribe of Levi l ; whence some attributed 
the book to the Prophet whose inspired work is now 
extant in the canon ; but he lived much earlier than 
the period which must be assigned to this history, if its 
truth be admitted. There is reason, however, to sus- 
pect that this title was a subsequent addition, by some 
person who attributed the book to Habakkuk, on ac- 
count of the agency which is assigned to him in the 

1 Hieron. Praefat. in Dan. torn. iii. p. 1071-2. et adv. Rufin. lib. 
ii. torn. iv. p. 431. edit. Par. 1704. Sixt. Senens. Bib. Sanct. lib. i. 
p. 13. 



600 OF THE HISTORY 

history ; and Theodotion was induced, probably, in 
consequence of such suspicion, to change the title in 
his edition, though he substituted with as little reason, 
that of Daniel. Ifj however, the author's name really 
were Habakkuk, he was in all probability some Helle- 
nistical Jew, or, at least, a different person from the 
sacred writer. 

There appears to be good ground to conclude, that 
the book was never extant in the Hebrew language : 
it may, as Lightfoot has conceived, be a parabolical 
story, founded on a passage in Jeremiah 2 , who threatens 
punishment to Bel, the great national idol of Babylon 3 , 
in terms that might have suggested the circumstances 
of his destruction as described in this book. 

It is certain, that in all these apocryphal additions, 
the same Daniel was meant as the Prophet whose 
writings we possess in the canon ; though annexed to 
the suspected title before mentioned, which, according 
to St. Jerom, was in the Septuagint copies 4 , there is 

2 Jerem. li. 44. See also 1. 2. Isaiah xlvi. 1, 2. comp. Ezra 
i. 7, 8. v. 14. Seld. Syntag. ii. de Belo et Dragon, c. xvii. p. 403. 
torn. ii. 

3 To the successor of Nimrod was given the name of Bel, which 
from byz. signifies a Lord ; Nimrod was worshipped under the title 
of " God of Nysa " a district of Arabia. He was called Ai6-vv<rog 
by the Greeks, and by the Latins Bacchus, a corruption of Ber- 
chush, or rather Ber-cush, ttnD-m son of Cush or Coush. See 
Bochart's Phaleg. pars ii. lib. i. c. 18. p. 479. Hieron. in Ezech. 
xxiii. p. 857. et in Osee 11. p. 1247. torn. iii. edit. par. 1704. 
Herod, lib. i. c. 150. lib. ii. c. xlviii. xlix. Diodor. lib. iii. p. 235. 
See also lib. i. p. 107. edit. Wetstein. 

4 St. Jerom calls the book, on account of this inscription, \pev$- 
eTTiypa^ov, " falsely entitled." It is rejected as apocryphal under 
the title of the Book of Habakkuk, (Ambacum) by the author of the 
Synopsis attributed to Athanasius, torn. ii. p. 201. edit. Par. 1698. 



OF BEL AND THE DRAGON. 601 

an exordium, or, as it were, a first verse, which describes 
Daniel improperly as a priest, the son of Obadiah, a 
guest of the king of Babylon ; and inconsistently with 
the sacred accounts of the Prophet, by which Daniel 
appears to have been of the tribe of Judah. Still, 
however, as that title and exordium were probably 
subsequent additions, we may conceive the author of 
this book to speak of the Prophet Daniel ; but not, as 
some have imagined, that he gives us only an enlarged 
account of the events related in the sixth chapter of the 
authentic book of Daniel : for the circumstances are 
totally different, except in the particular of his being 
thrown into the lions' den ; and the history recorded in 
the sacred account is assigned to the reign of Darius : 
whereas, in the first verse of this book, which undoubt- 
edly is properly placed there 5 , the events appear to be 
ascribed to the reign of Cyrus 6 , which, however, did 
not commence till the Prophet had attained, probably, 
his twenty-first or twenty-second year. 

Many persons object to the improbability of the cir- 
cumstances related in this work : as particularly to the 

5 As it stands in the Arabic, Syriac, and Alexandrian copies. 

6 It must be observed, that the author in this verse speaks of 
Cyrus, as of the immediate successor of Astyages : agreeably to the 
account of Herodotus and his followers. But it is certain, from 
profane and sacred history, that there was an intermediate king of 
Media, who reigned two years, called Cyaxares, by Xenophon ; and 
Darius, by Josephus and Daniel. Vid. Xenophon. Cyropaed. lib. i. 
p. 22. edit. Francof. 1596. Joseph. Antiq. lib. x. c. xi. § iv. p. 
462-3. Dan. v. 31. Messieurs du Port Royal, on a notion that 
the particulars recorded in this book are such as were not likely 
to have occurred under Astyages, Darius, or Cyrus, assign the his- 
tory to the beginning of the reign of Evil-Merodach, the son of Ne- 
buchadnezzar, placing it about a. m. 3442. 



602 OF THE HISTORY OF BEL AND THE DRAGON. 

destruction of the dragon \ and to the conveyance of 
Habakkuk from Jerusalem to Babylon, merely to fur- 
nish a dinner to Daniel. The book, indeed, though it 
be cited as historical by the most respectable writers in 
the earliest ages of the church 8 , is considered as fabu- 
lous by St. Jerom ; and it must be allowed to con- 
tain some extravagant and incredible relations. It 
is, nevertheless, canonized by the Council of Trent. 
Daniel, probably by detecting the mercenary contriv- 
ances of the idolatrous priest at Babylon, and by open- 
ing the eyes of the people to the follies of that super- 
stition into which they had been seduced, might have 
afforded some foundation for the history ; and the 
writer of the book appears to have introduced addi- 
tional circumstances to enliven the narration ; and to 
illustrate the providence of God in protecting and pro- 
viding for those who adhere to his service. 

7 By the dragon is to be understood a serpent, of which, to the 
triumph of our great deceiver, the worship prevailed among many- 
nations in early times. Vid. Rom. i, 23. iElian. de Animal, lib. 
xi. c. xvii. et lib. xvii. c. v. Origen cont. Cels. lib. vi. § 4. p. 632. 
Valer. Max. lib. i. c. viii. § 2. Ovid. Metam. lib. xv. line 669, &c. 
Wisd. xi. 15. Fragm. Philo, torn. ii. p. 646. Stillingfl. Orig. Sac. 
book iii. c. iii. § 18. Messieurs du Port Royal suppose, that the 
dragon was burst, not by any specific power of the composition, but 
by the suffocation which it occasioned in a narrow thrpat. Ben 
Gorion gives a very different account of the destruction. Vid. lib. 
i. c. x. ap. Seld. Syntag. ii. c. xvii. p. 404. edit. Lond. 1726. 

8 Irenaeus Hseres. lib. iv. c. v. p. 232. edit. Paris, 1710 of Grabe's 
edit. c. xi. p. 282. TertulL de Jejun. adv. Psychicos, c. vii. p. 548. 
edit. Par. 1664. De Idololat. c. xviii. p. 96. Cyprian. Epist. 56. 
de Exhort. Martyrii, p. 92. edit. Par. 1726. Ambrose in Epist. ad 
Rom. i. 23. 



OF THE 



PRAYER OF MANASSES, 



This short prayer is by some attributed to Manasseh, 
king of Judah. It is said to have been composed by 
him during the captivity at Babylon ; where, agreeably 
to God's threats by his Prophets \ he was carried in 
fetters, by Esarhaddon, king of Assyria and Babylon 2 , 
in the twenty-second year of his reign, a.m. 3327 3 , and 
where, according to some traditionary accounts, being 
severely treated by the conqueror 4 , and having vainly 
sought protection from the false deities whom he wor- 
shipped, he remembered the advice which he had re- 
ceived from his father in the words of Moses, " When 
thou art in tribulation, if thou turn to the Lord thy 
God, he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee 5 " 
It appears from the sacred history, that the king was 

1 2 Kings xxi. 12—16. 

2 Prid. Connect. A. 680. Part 1st. p. 25. Manass. ch. xix. 

3 2 Chron. xxxiii. 11. 

4 Some writers fabulously relate, that he was shut up in a heated 
brazen calf, that on the utterance of this prayer the image burst, and 
that he was carried by an angel to Jerusalem. Eutych. Alexand. 
Annal. p. 239. edit. Selden, 1656. 

5 Deut. iv. 30, 31. Tradit. Hebr. in Paralip. et Targum in 2 
Chron. xxxiii. 11. 



604 OF THE PRAYER OF MANASSES. 

awakened by his afflictions to a due sense of his crimes, 
and induced to turn with humility and repentance to 
the God of his fathers ; that he prayed unto the Lord, 
who was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, 
and brought him again, after a short captivity, to his 
kingdom, into Jerusalem : there, as he continued sted- 
fast in his adherence to God, and zealously laboured to 
extirpate idolatry, he enjoyed a long reign of prosperity 
and peace ; being permitted to continue on the throne 
fifty-five years 6 . This was a longer period than was 
allowed to any preceding or subsequent king ; and an 
indulgence which serves to illustrate the efficacy of 
that contrition of which the sacred writers strongly 
inculcate the necessity, and minutely detail the effects. 
The Prayer in our Bibles, though it contain nothing 
inconsistent with the circumstances and period of 
Manasseh, is not supposed to be the authentic produc- 
tion of that monarch. The prayer which he is related 
in the Book of Chronicles to have • uttered, is there 
said to have been written in the Book of the Kings of 
Israel, and in the sayings of the Seers 7 ; in some larger 
and uninspired records which have perished. The pre- 
sent work is not in any of the Hebrew copies. It is 
uncertain in what language it was originally composed ; 
but it cannot be traced higher than to the Vulgate, into 
which, probably, or into some Greek copies, it was in- 

6 2 Chron. xxxiii. 1. 12, 13. et Joseph. Antiq. lib. x. c. iii. 
p. 437. 

7 2 Chron. xxxiii. 19. Or of Hosai, as it is rendered in the mar- 
gin of our Bibles. The word »nn signifies Seers, as the Seventy- 
render it. Some understand it to be the name of a Prophet, and 
some have thought that Isaiah is meant. The Syriac reads Hanan, 
the Arabic Saphan. Vid. Grot. 



OF THE PRAYER OF MANASSES. 605 

serted by some writer desirous of supplying the loss of 
the authentic prayer. It was not received as genuine 
by any of the Fathers or Councils, and was rejected 
even by the Council of Trent. 

The work is, however, written in a style of much 
piety and humility : and the Greek church has inserted 
it into its euchology, or collection of prayers. The 
author of it speaks of repentance in a manner very 
questionable, as not appointed to the just, as to Abra- 
ham, and Isaac, and Jacob; but upon this point he 
perhaps may be understood only to express a reflection 
of somewhat similar import to that uttered by our 
Saviour, when he declared that he came not to call the 
righteous, but sinners to repentance 8 . 

8 Matt. ix. 13. 



OF THE 

FIRST BOOK OF THE 
MACCABEES. 



The First Book of the Maccabees contains a collection 
of historical particulars relating to the Jews, from the 
beginning of the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes, a.m. 
3829, to the death of Simon the high-priest, a.m. 3869. 
It is supposed to have been originally written in the 
Hebrew, or rather in the Jerusalem dialect, corrupted 
by an intermixture of Chaldee, as used by the Jews 
after the return from captivity. The author is by some 
thought to have been John Hyrcanus, the son of 
Simon ; who was a prince and high-priest of the Jews 
nearly thirty years, and who began his government at 
the period at which this history concludes. Josephus \ 
indeed, informs us, that the high-priests were intrusted 
with the care of writing the annals of their country ; 
and at the period of the Maccabees, great attention 
seems to have been paid to preserve them 2 . The 
author of the present book, who was probably some 

1 Cont. Apion. lib. i. p. 1332. 

2 1 Mace. xvi.-24. 2 Mace. ii. 14. 

3 



FIRST BOOK OF THE MACCABEES. 607 

person publicly appointed to digest the history, appears 
to have had recourse to the national records, and some- 
times refers to them 3 . He reckons from a Greek sera, 
but according to the Hebrew mode of computation 4 . 
Origen gives us the Hebrew title that appeared at the 
head of this work, b$m 10 tDOntP, "The Sceptre of 
the Prince of the Sons of God ;" a title which obviously 
alludes to Judas, the valiant defender of God's perse- 
cuted people 5 . St. Jerom professes to have seen this 
work in Hebrew or Syriac. This original, however, is 
now lost. The Greek version, from which our English 
translation was made, is denominated Maccabees, from 
the persons whose actions are described in the work. 
It was probably executed before the time of Theodo- 
tion, for it appears to have been used by authors who 
were his contemporaries 6 . In the Paris and London 
Polyglots, there are two Syriac versions of both the 
books of the Maccabees, which were made from the 
Greek, though they differ from it in some respects. 

The two books of the Maccabees were certainly 
composed after the succession of Prophets had ceased 
among the Jews 7 ; and were never reckoned by them 
in the catalogue of the sacred writings. They were 
not cited by our Saviour, or his apostles; and were 
considered as apocryphal by the primitive church, since 

Chap. xvi. 24. 
4 The author calculates from the month Nisan, (March or April,) 
the Greeks reckon from October. 

Vide Origen. apud Euseb. 1. vi. c. xxv. Hieron. Prol. Gal. 
Some read the title b« m ID B>mtt>, The Sceptre of the Rebels 
against God. 

6 As by Origen and Tertullian. 

7 1 Mace. iv. 46. ix. 27. xiv. 41. Joseph, cont. Apion. lib. i. 
p. 1333. Parker's Introd. ad Bib. Vossius. Kidder, &c. 



608 FIRST BOOK OF THE MACCABEES. 

they are not mentioned in the list of the canonical 
books furnished by Melito, the Council of Laodicea, 
Hilary, and Cyril of Jerusalem 8 ; they are expressly 
represented as works of a secondary rank by many 
very ancient writers 9 ; and were received as such by 
Augustin, and the Council of Carthage \ (though 
indeed enumerated in the 47th canon with the cano- 
nical books;) notwithstanding which they were pro- 
nounced to be in every respect canonical by the Council 
of Trent. 

This first book is much followed by Josephus, and cited 
as a respectable history by the Fathers 2 . It was pro- 
bably written by a contemporary author, who had, in 
part, witnessed the scenes which he so minutely and 
graphically describes; and who wrote under a lively 
impression of the revolutions which his country had 
recently experienced. It is composed, at least, with 
great accuracy and spirit, and perhaps approaches 
nearer to the style of sacred history than^ any work 
now extant. St. John has been thought to substantiate 

8 Preface to the Apocryphal Books in this work, and Cosin's 
Canon of Scripture. 

9 Origen ap. Euseb. Hist. lib. vi. c. xxv. Athan. Synop. torn. ii. 
p. 201, Hieron. Prasfat. in Libros Salomon, torn. i. p. 938. Gre- 
gor. Mag. Moral. Expos, in Job, torn. i. p. 622. edit. Paris, 1705. 
Junil. African, de Part. Div. Leg. apud Bib. Patr. torn. vi. par. 2. 
lib. i. c. iii. p. 199. 

1 August, de Civit. Dei, lib. xviii. c. xxxvi. quos non Judsei sed 
Ecclesia pro Canonicis habet. Concil. Carthag. 3. Can. 47. In the 
printed copies of the pretended decree of Pope Gelasius, only one 
book of the Maccabees is mentioned. 

2 Antiq. lib. xii. cap. vi. et sequent. Tertull. adv. Jud. c. iv. 
p. 187. edit. Lutet. Paris, 1664. Cyprian Epist. Iv. p. 80. edit. 
Par. 1726. 



FIRST BOOK OF THE MACCABEES. 609 

the truth of a relation herein furnished 3 ; and Josephus 
appears to have copied most of its accounts into his 
Jewish Antiquities ; and though the author has been 
represented in a few instances as betraying some igno- 
rance in treating of foreign affairs 4 , yet in other 
respects, many heathen writers corroborate his reports. 
It is to be observed, however, that the first book differs 
in some points from the second, and from the accounts 
of Josephus 5 . 

The book contains the history of Mattathias, and of 
his family, and of the wars which they at the head 
of their countrymen, maintained against the Kings of 
Syria, in defence of their religion and lives. From the 
death of Alexander, who had conquered Persia, and the 
countries dependent on that empire 6 , Judaea followed 
the fate of Syria ; and for a space of near one hundred 
and fifty years was exposed to all the ambitious con- 
tests which prevailed between the kings of Syria and 
Egypt. After various revolutions, and alternate sub- 
jection to each of these kingdoms ; and after having 
occasionally suffered all the oppressions and exactions 

3 St. John represents Jesus to have been present at the feast of 
the dedication ; by which has been understood the feast of the dedi- 
cation of the altar, of which the institution is recorded in this book. 
Some have thought, that as this feast commenced on the twenty-fifth 
of December, it might have been pre-ordained with a reference to 
our Saviour's birth. The Jews celebrated this feast, which they 
called the feast of the lights, for eight days, with illuminations and 
great joy. Vid. John x. 22. 1 Mace. iv. 56 — 59. Joseph. Antiq. 
lib. xii. c. vii. 

4 Chap. i. 5, 6. viii. 6 — 9. Rainold's Censur. Apoc. Praelect. 
98. 104. 

5 Comp. 1 Mace. vi. 8—16. with 2 Mace. i. 13—16. and ix. 26. 

6 Joseph. Antiq. lib. xi. c. viii. &c. 

R r 



610 FIRST BOOK OF THE MACCABEES. 

that tyranny could enforce by means of the high-priests, 
and those princes who were appointed by the interest, 
and subject to the control of the conquerors, Judsea 
was at the time that this history begins, a tributary 
province of Syria, under Antiochus Epiphanes ; and 
cruelly harassed and pillaged by him. The severe per- 
secution which lie exercised, and his avowed designs, 
w T hich tended to exterminate the religion, and indeed 
the whole nation of the Jews 7 , inflamed the zeal of 
Mattathias to resentment and revolt ; and upon his 
death, excited Judas, in compliance with the dying 
injunctions of his father, to attempt the deliverance of 
his country. The successive victories, and prudent con- 
duct of Judas and his brethren, which effected the 
accomplishment of their designs, constitute the chief 
subject of the present book. The relation affords a 
lively picture of a nation animated by the patriotic 
heroism of its leaders, and struggling with enthusiasm 
for civil and religious liberty. It represents Judas and 
his brethren, anxious to " restore the decayed estate of 
the people," and to purify the polluted sanctuary of 
their God ; as endeavouring by measures concerted in 
piety, and conducted with steady fortitude, to con- 
ciliate the divine countenance. It describes, likewise, 
the gradual recovery of Judaea from desolation and 
miseries to importance and prosperity 8 , and, at the 
same time, the re-establishment of the worship of the 
true God on the ruins of idolatry. 

The author, like the sacred historians, selects indi- 
vidual characters for consideration, and describes the 

7 Chap. I 41—64. iii. 34—36. 

8 Chap. i. 25 — 28. iii. 42— 51. comp. with chap. x. xii. 19—23 
xiv. 8—23. xv. 1—9. 24. 32. 



FIRST BOOK OF THE MACCABEES. 611 

misconduct, as well as the virtues of his heroes. He 
treats of the affairs of other nations only so far as they 
are connected with the circumstances of the Jewish 
history ; and 'exhibits the changes and vicissitudes of 
other governments, as they tended to affect the inte- 
rests of his country. 

The particulars recorded in the book, have been 
thought often to afford a key to prophecy 9 ; and espe- 
cially to explain the mysterious visions contained in the 
eighth and eleventh chapters of Daniel, relating to the 
horn, by which emblem it is supposed was, in the first 
instance, presignified Antiochus \ who set up the 
abomination of desolation on the altar 2 , but who him- 
self was only a type of a more fatal enemy to the 
church. 

9 Comp. 1 Mace. x. 88, 89. with Zech. ix. 13—17. and Jackson's 
works, vol. ii. p. 844. edit. London, 1673. Vid. also 1 Mace. vii. 
17. where the second and third verses of Psalm lxxix. are cited, 
either by way of accommodation to the circumstances before de- 
scribed ; or as intentionally prophetic (perhaps in a secondary sense,) 
of the slaughter effected by Alcinus. The Hebrew word l»VDn, in- 
deed, which is translated " of thy saints" in the second verse of the 
Psalm, has been considered as descriptive of the Asidaeans (or Cha- 
sidaeans) who were eminently pious. The Psalm might, perhaps, 
have been historical of the calamities occasioned by Nebuchadnezzar, 
and yet like many others, have borne a prophetic aspect to future 
circumstances. 

1 Joseph. Antiq. lib. x. c. xi. p. 466. Hieron. in Dan. c. viii, 

2 Chap. i. 54, 55. By " the abomination of desolation," which 
as Daniel had predicted was set upon the altar, has been understood 
the idol that was placed there by order of Antiochus. This is sup- 
posed to have been the statue of Jupiter Olympius. Vid. 2 Mace. 
vi. 2. Idols in Scripture are commonly called abominations. Vid. 
1 Kings xi. 5. 7. And the idol might be said to make desolate, as 
it expelled the worship of the true God, and occasioned the destruc- 
tion of his servants. Comp. Dan. xi. 31. with 1 Mace. i. 54. and 

r r 2 



612 FIRST BOOK OF THE MACCABEES. 

Mattathias, the father of Judas, was of the sacerdo- 
tal race, of the course of Joarib 3 ; and as is generally 
supposed, a descendant of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, 
to whom God had given the covenant of an everlasting 
priesthood 4 . He himself does not appear to have en- 
joyed that exalted office 5 ; though it was conferred on 
his sons ; and restricted as an exclusive privilege to his 
descendants till the typical office was virtually put an 
end to by the institution of a spiritual priesthood in 
the time of Herod ; who, except in the case of Aristo- 
bulus, the grandson of Hyrcanus, did not respect the 
pretensions of the Asmonsean family, but conceded 
the priesthood to any of the sacerdotal lineage 6 . 

Judas, whose exploits are celebrated in this history, 
has been thought to have derived his title of Macca- 
bseus from the initial letters of the four words with 
which his standard is supposed to have been decorated \ 

2 Mace. vi. 1, 2. Our Saviour seems emphatically to apply this 
description to the approaching profanation by the standard of the 
Roman armies at the final destruction of the temple, and it is re- 
markable that Josephus, while he considers the sufferings of the 
Jews under An tiochus as verifying the prophecies of Daniel, subjoins 
that the prophet wrote also concerning the Roman power, and that 
the Jewish nation should be desolated (sprj/iiodnaeTcti) by them. See 
Matt. xxiv. 15. Joseph. Antiq. lib. x. c. xi. p. 466. 

3 Chap. ii. 1. or Jahoiarib. This was the first of the twenty-four 
courses which served in the temple. Vid. 1 Chron. xxiv. 7- 

4 Numb. xxv. 11 — 13. 1 Mace. ii. 54. Jurieu's Critic. Hist, 
vol. i. part iii. c. i. p. .372. 

5 Calmet, Diet, word Mattathias. 

6 Joseph. Antiq. lib. xx. c. ix. p. 901. 

7 Others, who think that Judas was named Maccabseus before he 
erected his standard ; or who collect from monuments that a lion 
was imprinted on the standard of the Maccabees, derive the word 
Maccabseus from »a H3D, " per me est plaga." Vid. Godwyn de 



FIRST BOOK OF THE MACCABEES. 613 

and which were taken from the eleventh verse of the 
fifteenth chapter of Exodus, niiT D^Kl HDM »fij ; 
" Who is like unto thee among the gods, O Jehovah ?" 
from this Judas and his descendants were called Mac- 
cabees. They were called, likewise, Asamoneeans, 
either because, as Josephus informs us, Mattathias was 
a descendant of Asamonseus 8 ; or by an honourable 
and eminent distinction, as the Hebrew word signifies 
princes 9 . Many writers maintain, that they were de- 
scended maternally from the race of Judah \ Aris- 
tobulus, the son of Hyrcanus, was the first who assumed 
the title of king after the captivity. Although the 
sceptre was thus transferred from Judah, a lawgiver did 
not depart from between his feet till the Shiloh came ; 
since the princes of that tribe continued, occasionally, 
if not generally, to be selected to preside over the San- 
hedrim 2 , which administered to the construction and 
execution of the law, and imposed some restraint on 

Repub. Jud. lib. i. c. 1. Some derive it from Macchabeth, or 
Muccbubeth, " hidden," because Mattathias and his companions 
concealed themselves in the wilderness. Vid. chap. ii. 28 — 31. 
Others, lastly, derive it from Makke-Baiah, which signifies " Con- 
queror in the Lord." Vid. Prid. An. 166. et Calmet on 1 Matt. ii. 
4. Ben Gorion, lib. iii. c. ii. 

8 Joseph. Antiq. lib. xii. c. vi. p. 534. edit. Huds. 

9 Chasamanim, vid. Psalm lxviii. 32. It is rendered Upeafieig in 
the Septuagint of Psalm lxvii. p. 31. Vid. Kimchi. Drus. Prsef. in 
Maccab. Euseb. Demonst. Evang. lib. viii. p. 393-4. edit. Par. 
1628. See also p. 370, &c. 

1 August, cont. Faust, lib. i. c. lxxii. &c. Preface to the Histo- 
rical Books in this work. 

2 Vide Joseph. Antiq. lib. xiii. c. xi. p. 588. Tzemach David ad 
annum 728. Millenarii 4. Vide also Joseph, de Voisin Procemium 
Pugio Fidei, p. 12. edit. Lipsiae, 1687. Witsius Miscellan. Sacr. 
Praef. § 29. 



614 FIRST BOOK OF THE MACCABEES. 

the sovereign. He bequeathed the crown to his son, 
after whose death it became a subject of contest to his 
children ; and on the capture of Hyrcanus the elder, 
by the Parthians, it was conferred by the Romans on 
Herod 3 . 

3 Sulpit. Sever. Sacr. Hist. lib. ii. p. 362. edit. Lugd. Bat. p. 
1647. 



OF THE 

SECOND BOOK OF THE 
MACCABEES. 



This Book contains a compilation of historical records 
extracted from different works ; but especially an 
abridgment of the history of the persecutions carried 
on by Epiphanes and Eupator ] against the Jews, which 
had been written in Greek in five books, by an Helle- 
nistical Jew of Cyrene, named Jason, (a descendant 
probably of one of those Jews who had been placed 
there by Ptolemy Soter 2 ,) and which is no longer ex- 
tant. The name of the compiler is not known. He 
was doubtless a different person from the author of the 
preceding book. He dates from an eera six months 
later than that chosen by him, and not only writes with 
less accuracy, and in a more florid style, but likewise 
relates some particulars in a manner inconsistent with 

1 Ch. ii. 19 — 29. Clemens Alexandrinus calls it the epitome of 
the Maccabaic history. Vid. Strom, lib. v. p. 705. edit. Potter. 

2 Prid. Con. Par. i. book viii. an. 320. The Cyreneans were of 
Greek extraction. Callimachus, the Poet of Cyrene, wrote in Greek. 
Joseph. Antiq. lib. xii. c. i. p. 507. 



616 SECOND BOOK OF THE MACCABEES. 

the accounts of the first book 3 ; from which, never- 
theless, he has in other instances borrowed both senti- 
ments and facts. Some writers have attributed this 
second book to Philo of Alexandria 4 ; and others to 
Josephus, on grounds equally conjectural and fallacious. 
Neither Eusebius nor Jerom speak of it as among the 
works of Philo ; and the discourse of the Maccabees, 
or the Empire of Reason, which Eusebius and Jerom 
suppose to have been written by Josephus 5 , is a very 
different work, though it mentions many particulars 
contained in this book. 

Serarius 6 maintained that the Second Book of Mac- 
cabees was the production of Judas, the Essenian, who 
is described by Josephus as a man of great authority 
for his wisdom ; who, likewise, according to the his- 

3 Comp. 1 Mace. vi. 13—16. with 2 Mace. i. 16. and ix. 28. 1 
Mace. ix. 3. 18. with 2 Mace. i. 10. 1 Mace. iv. 36. with 2 Mace. 
x. 2, 3. et Usher. 

4 Honor. Augustod. de Scriptor. Eccl. in Philon, p. 999. apud 
Bibliothec. Patr. torn. xii. edit. Colon. Agrip. 1618. 

5 Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. c. x. Hieron. adv. Pelag. lib. i. 
p. 514. torn. iv. edit. Par. 1706. et Lib. de Imperio Rationis, in 
Joseph. This book, whether properly or improperly attributed to 
Josephus, is entitled, eiq MaiacafiaiovQ \6yog, rj Ttepl avroicparopog 
Xoyia/Jiov. The word Maccabees being applied to all who distin- 
guished themselves in the cause of religion and freedom ; and some- 
times, as in this instance, to those who flourished before the time of 
Judas. Vid. Scaliger in Chron. Euseb. n. 1853. p. 143. The work 
of Josephus is a rhetorical declamation on the power of reason, act- 
ing on religious principles ; in which the author illustrates his sub- 
ject by a description of the conduct and speeches of Eleazar, and the 
other martyrs whose fortitude is celebrated in this Second Book of 
Maccabees. 

6 Serarius, Prol. II. in Mace, et Rupert, de Vict. Verbi Dei, 
lib. x. cap. xv. p. 690. edit. Paris, 1638. 



SECOND BOOK OF THE MACCABEES. 617 

torian's account, was endowed with the infallible spirit 
of prophecy 7 , and predicted the death of Antigonus, 
the second son of John Hyrcanus the Priest ; and who, 
as Serarius imagines, is mentioned in the fourteenth 
verse of the second chapter of this book. But that 
passage is generally allowed to relate to Judas Mac- 
cabseus ; and affords no light with respect to the author 
of this work. It is with more probability, though still 
with uncertainty, assigned to Simon, or Judas Macca- 
bseus ; while some have imagined that the whole book 
is only a letter written by the synagogue of Jerusalem 
to the Jews in Egypt ; not distinguishing the historical 
from the epistolary parts 8 . By whomsoever it was 
composed, it should seem to have been originally writ- 
ten in Greek ; and the compiler, as well as the author, 
whose work he abridged, follows the Syrian mode of 
computation, reckoning by the years of the Seleucidse 9 . 
The two epistles which are contained in the first and 
second chapters, and which are there said to have been 
written by the Jews at Jerusalem to their brethren at 
Alexandria, exhorting them to observe the feast of the 
Tabernacles, and that of the Purification, are by Pri- 
deaux considered as spurious ; the second, indeed, is 
said to have been written by Judas, who was not living 
at the time of the alleged date l ; and it contains many 

7 Joseph. Antiq. lib. xiii. c. xi. p. 589. de Bell. Jud. lib. i. c. iii. 
p. 964. 

8 Genebr. Chronol. Coteler. Not. ad Can. Apost. p. 388. 

9 Prideaux conceives, that the compiler must have been an Egyp- 
tian Jew, since he seems to have acknowledged the lesser temple in. 
Egypt, for he distinguishes the temple at Jerusalem as " the great 
temple." Vid. chap. ii. 19. xiv. 13. Prid. Connect, part ii. book iii. 
p. 265. An. 166. 

1 Comp. 1 Mace. ix. 3. 18. with 2 Mace. i. 10. 



618 SECOND BOOK OF THE MACCABEES. 

extravagant and fabulous particulars. It begins at the 
tenth verse of the first chapter, and terminates with 
the eighteenth of the second ; from thence to the end 
of the chapter is a short preface of the compiler, pre- 
fixed to the abridgment of Jason's history ; which com- 
mences with the third chapter, and concludes with 
the thirty-seventh verse of the fifteenth chapter, the 
two last verses forming a kind of conclusion to the 
work. 

The book contains a history of about fifteen years, 
from the enterprise of Heliodorus in the temple, a.m. 
3828, to the victory of Judas Maccabseus over Nicanor, 
a.m. 3843. The chapters are not, however, arranged 
exactly in chronological order. The work begins at a 
period somewhat earlier than that of the first book of 
Maccabees. As the author appears at first to have 
intended only an epitome of the history of Judas Mac- 
cabaeus and his brethren, with some contemporary 
events 2 , the account of the punishment of Heliodorus, 
which occurred under Seleucus, the predecessor of 
Epiphanes, as well as the circumstances related in the 
two last chapters which happened under. Demetrius 
Soter, the successor of Eupator, have been sometimes 
represented as additions made by some later writer: 
but since these events, as connected with the time of 
Judas, were not irrelative to the author's design, there 
is no reason, except from a pretended difference of 
style, to dispute their authenticity as a part of Jason's 
history ; or, at least, as a genuine addition affixed to 
the epitome by the compiler. The author has no title, 
any more than the writer of the preceding book, to be 

2 Chap. ii. 19—23. 



SECOND BOOK OF THE MACCABEES. 619 

considered as an inspired historian : he speaks, indeed, 
of his performance in the diffident style of one who 
■was conscious of the fallibility of his own judgment, 
and distrustful of his own powers 3 . His work was 
never considered as strictly canonical till received into 
the sacred list by the Council of Trent, though exam- 
ples are produced from it by many ancient writers 4 . It 
must be allowed to be a valuable and instructive his- 
tory ; and it affords an interesting description of a per- 
secuted and afflicted people : presenting in the relation 
of the conduct of Eleazar, and of the woman and her 
children who suffered for their attachment to their 
religion, illustrations of constancy that might have 
animated the martyrs of the Christian church. The 
author industriously displays the confidence in a resur- 
rection and future life 5 which prevailed at the period 
of his history, and which was the encouragement that 
enabled those who were so severely tried, to sustain 
their tortures. He likewise, perhaps, more particu- 
larly enforced the doctrine of a resurrection with design 
to counteract the propagation of the Sadducean prin- 
ciples, which were then rising into notice. There are, 
however, passages of exceptionable tendency in the 
book. 

It has been thought to detract from the credibility 
of the particulars recorded in this book, that neither 

3 Chap. xv. 38. which is written in the style of an uninspired 
writer, and resembles the conclusion of the oration of iEschines 
against Ctesiphon. 

* Ambrose de Jacob, et Vita Beat. c. x. xi. xii. p. 474. edit. 
Par. 1686. et lib. de Offic. c. xl. xli. p. 52. August, de Cur. 
gerend. pro Mortuis, lib. i. § 3. 

5 Chap. vii. 9. 11. 14. 23. 29. 36. and xiv. 46. 



620 SECOND BOOK OF THE MACCABEES. 

the author of the preceding work, or Josephus in those 
his acknowledged writings, in which he treats of the 
persecution carried on by Antiochus 6 , should mention 
the sufferings of the martyrs whose memorial is here 
celebrated. But the silence of these historians cannot 
afford any sufficient argument to prove that there was 
not, at least, some groundwork for the account of this 
book, with whatever exaggerations we may suppose it 
to have been decorated. The description, likewise, of 
the prodigies and meteorological conflicts which por- 
tended calamities to Judaea, ought not to invalidate our 
confidence in the veracity of the writer of this book ; 
since it is unquestionable from the testimony of respec- 
table historians 7 , and agreeable to the representation 
of holy writ 8 , that they should sometimes take place : 
and when, as in this instance, the phenomena are re- 
presented by an historian, perhaps nearly contemporary 
with the events, to have continued forty days 9 , it is 
unreasonable to suspect delusion, or wilful misrepresen- 
tation. So, likewise, however improbable those ac- 
counts may appear, in which God is described to have 
vindicated the insulted sanctity of his temple \ and to 
have discountenanced the adversaries of his people by 
apparitions and angelical visions 2 , it is certain that 
many philosophical and judicious writers have main- 
tained the reality of similar appearances 3 ; and that 

6 De Bell. Jud. lib. i. c. i. Joseph. Antiq. lib. xii. c. v. 

7 Joseph, de Bell. Jud. lib. iv. c. iv. p. 1181. lib. vii. c. v. 
p.' 1303. Tacit. Hist. lib. v. c. xiii. 

8 Joel ii. 31. Matt. xxiv. 29. Mark xiii. 24. Luke xxi. 25. 

9 Ch. v. 1—3. x Ch. iii. 24—29. 2 Ch. x. 29, 30. xi. 8. 
3 Cicero de Natur. Deor. lib. ii. § 2. p. 436. edit. Par. See also 

Tuscul. Qusest. lib. i. See 2 Kings yi. 17. 



SECOND BOOK OF THE MACCABEES. 621 

the popular superstitions and belief in such apparitions 
may, without credulity, be supposed to have originated 
in the miraculous interpositions which were sometimes 
displayed in favour of the Jewish people 4 , though 
there be not sufficient authority in this book to warrant 
us in placing those here recorded among the number. 

But though the book may, perhaps, be vindicated in 
general, with respect to historical truth, it contains 
some parts of exceptionable character ; and some pas- 
sages in it have been objected to as of dangerous 
example 5 . The Romanists, indeed, who in deference 
to the decision of the Tridentine fathers, admit the 
canonical authority of the book, have produced the last 
verses of the twelfth chapter to countenance (though 
some think they do not) their notions concerning mass, 
purgatory, and prayers for the dead 6 , with a view to 
reconciliation and deliverance from sin. 

The work, as the production of a fallible and unen- 
lightened man, may contain a mixture of error; and 
certainly should be read with that discretion, which, 

4 Joshua v. 13. 

5 Ch. i. 18 — 36. et Rainold's Censur. Apocryph. torn. ii. Pras- 
lect. 133, 134. Vid. also ch. xiv. 41 — 46. where the furious 
attempt of Razis to fall on his own sword is spoken of with seeming 
approbation. 

6 Bellarm. de Purgat. lib. ii. c. xv. p. 661. Opera, torn. ii. edit. 
Colon. Agrippinae, 1620. Some think that Judas is commended for 
having prayed, not for the dead, but that the guilt of the dead might 
not be imputed to the living ; but though the Greek be less favour- 
able to the doctrine of the Romish church than the Vulgate, it must 
be confessed that the passage will not admit of that construction. 
Judas, probably, did not dream of purgatory ; but he is certainly 
represented to have prayed for the dead ; and in the Greek, as well 
as in the Latin, the reconciliation is said to have been made for the 
purpose of delivering the dead from sin. 



622 SECOND BOOK OF THE MACCABEES. 

while it seeks instruction, guards against the intrusion 
of false and pernicious opinions. If St. Paul, in his 
eulogium on some illustrious patterns of faith, should 
be thought to have established the truth, or approved 
the examples in this history, he by no means bears 
testimony to the inspiration of its author 7 ; or esta- 
blishes its general authority in point of doctrine. The 
Apostles consecrated for the direction of the Christian 
church, the productions of only those " religious men 
who were moved by the Holy Ghost." Augustin justly 
remarked, in answer to the Circumcellion Donatists 8 , 
who had urged the desperate attempt of Razis 9 , in 
defence of suicide ; that they must have been hard 
pressed for examples, to have recourse to the book 
of Maccabees ; for that this book was of subordinate 
authority, as not established on the testimony of the 
Jewish church, or on that of Christ ; and was received 
by the Christian church only to be discreetly read ; and 
further, that Razis, however distinguished for valour, 
was not to be proposed as an example to justify self- 
murder 1 . The Fathers in general, indeed, cite the 

7 It is stated in the nineteenth verse of the sixth chapter, that 
Eleazer, avdatpErcjg etvl to rv^nvavov 7rpoafjyev. And St. Paul, 
speaking of martyrs who had suffered in hopes of a resurrection, 
says, u\\oi de krv^iraviaQ^crav^ from which expression some conceive 
that the apostle alludes to the death of Eleazer, supposing rvjjnrapov 
to signify some specific engine of torture. If the apostle did refer 
to the account of this book, which is a point much controverted, it 
will only prove that the relation is true. See Heb. xi. 35. 

8 These were a party of confederated ruffians of the fourth century, 
who practised and defended assassinations, and who recommended 
suicide when it could rescue them from public punishment. Vid. 
Mosheim, Eccles. Hist. cent. iv. part ii. c. v. S. 5. 9 Ch. xiv. 41. 

1 August. Epist. 204. p. 766. torn. ii. edit. Paris, 1688. Cosin's 
Scholastical Hist. § 81. 



SECOND BOOK OF THE MACCABEES. 623 

book as a useful history 2 ; but not as of authority in 
point of doctrine. 

There are two other books entitled the Third and 
Fourth Books of Maccabees. That which is impro- 
perly styled the third, and which in point of time 
should be considered as the first, describes the perse- 
cution of Ptolemy Philopater against the Jews in 
Egypt, about a.m. 3789 ; and the miraculous delivery 
of those who were exposed in the Hypodrome of 
Alexandria to the fury of elephants. This is a work 
entitled to much respect; it is in the most ancient 
manuscript copies of the Septuagint 3 , and is cited by 
the Fathers 4 , but never having been found in the 
Vulgate, which version was universally used in the 
Western church, and from which our first translations 
were made, it never was admitted into our Bibles. 
Grotius supposes it to have been written soon after the 
book of Ecclesiasticus. The history is not noticed by 
Josephus ; though in the ancient version of his second 
book against Apion by Rufinus, there are some par- 
ticulars which allude to it. 

The book, which is usually called the Fourth Book 
of the Maccabees, and which contains a history of the 
pontificate of John Hyrcanus, was first published in 
the Paris Polyglot as an Arabic history of the Mac- 
cabees. It is supposed to have been a translation of 

2 Cyprian, de Exhort. Martyr, p. 269. Testim. 1. iii. § 4. p. 305. 
edit. Par. 1726. 

3 It is in the Alexandrian manuscript in the Museum, and in the 
Vatican manuscript at Rome. 

4 Euseb. Chron. an. 1800. Theod. in Dan. xi. 7. p. 682. edit. 
Par. 1642. Canon. Apost. 85. Athan. Synop. torn. ii. p. 201. 
edit. Par. 1698. Niceph. vid. Arabic Version, Paris Polyglot. 



624 SECOND BOOK OF THE MACCABEES. 

the work seen by Sixtus Senensis 5 in a Greek manu- 
script at Lyons, and which was afterwards burnt ; 
though, according to Calmet's account 6 , it should seem 
to have been a different work from that mentioned by 
early writers as a fourth book of the Maccabees 7 . It 
appears to have been originally written in Hebrew ; 
and the Arabic writer, or the Greek translator, (from 
whose version the Arabic was made,) lived after the 
destruction of the second temple by the Romans, as 
may be collected from some particulars. The book 
differs in many respects from the relations of Josephus. 
Calmet thinks that the Discourse on the Power of 
Reason, before mentioned as the work of Josephus, 
was the original fourth book of Maccabees, which in 
many Greek manuscripts is placed with the other three s . 
It may be added, that in two ancient Hebrew manu- 
scripts in the Bodleian library, as also in one at Leipsic, 
there follows after Esther, as a book of the Bible, 
without any title or introduction, a history of the 
Maccabees, written in Chaldee, which differs widely 
from our apocryphal books. It appears to have been 
originally composed in Chaldee, and rendered into 
Hebrew. It is probably a very ancient production, and 
contains many remarkable particulars 9 . 

5 Sixt. Senen. Bib. Sanct. lib. i. p. 31. et Bib. Maxim, a Fran, de 
la Haye. Selden. de Success, in Pontif. c. x. p. 126. 

6 Calmet, Preface sur le Quatrieme Livre des Maccab. 

7 Athan. Synop. p. 201. torn. ii. edit. Par. 1698. Vid. Coteler. 
Not. in Can. Apost. p. 117. 138. 

8 Cambesis in Joseph. Lib. de Imper. Ration. Cotel. Not. in Can. 
Apost. p. 339. 

The Hebrew copy has been published in a very corrupt state by 
Bartolocci. Vid. Kennicott, No. 18, Pentat. Psal. Megill. 80. p. 55, 
56. on Hebrew and Samaritan manuscripts, p. 54. 



A LIST 

OF 

AUTHORS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK, 

WITH EDITIONS. 



Aldrovandus, Ornithologia. Edit. Bononias, Franc, de Franciscis, 

1599. 
Alexander ab Alexandro, Geniales Dies. Edit. Rom. 1522. Paris, 

1582. 
Ambrosius. Edit. Paris, 1686. 
Apollonius Rhodius. Florent. 1496. 1498. 
Arnald, Critical Commentary. Edit. London, 1744. 
Assemani, Bibliotheca Orientalis. Rom. 1719. 
Atbanasius. Paris, 1698. 

Athenaeus, Deipnosophist. Casaubon. Lugduni, 1657. 
Augustinus. Paris, 1689. Antwerp, 1700. 
Avenarius, Dictionarium Hebraicum. Witteb. 1589. 
Barnabas. Paris, 1645. Oxon. 1685. 
Baronius, Annales Ecclesiastici. Coloniae Agrippinae, 1624. 
Bartolocci, Bibliotheca Magna Rabbinica de Scriptoribus et Scriptis 

Hebraicis. Rom. 1675. 
Basilius. Paris, 1721. 
Beda. Coloniae Agrippinae, 1688. 
Bellarmin, de Controversiis Christianae Fidei. Coloniae Agrippinae, 

1620. 
Bertramus, de Republica Judaica, Civili et Ecclesiastica. Lond. 

1660. 
Bibliotheca Veterum Patrum, &c. Coloniae Agrippinae, 1618. 
Bochart, Geographia Sacra. Edit. Cadomi, 1646. 

Hierozoicon, Lond. 1663. 

Bull. Edit. Grabe, Lond. 1703. 

Buxtorf, Tiberias, seu Commentarius Masorethicus. Basil, 1620 

and 1665. 

S S 



626 LIST OF AUTHORS. 

Buxtorf, de Abbreviaturis Hebraicis, Recensio Operis Talmudici, et 
Bibliotheca Rabbinica. Basil, 1613 and 1640. 

Synagoga Judaica. Hanoviae, 1604. 

Lexicon Chaldaicum, Talmudicum, et Rabbinicum. Basil, 

1639. 

(Filius), Dissertatio de Sponsalibus ac Divortiis. Basil, 



1652. 
Calmet, Commentaire Litteral. Paris, 1724. 

Dictionnaire. Paris, 1 722. 

Calovius, Opera. Edit. Wit. 1652. 

Carpzovius, Introductio ad Libros Canonicos V. T. omnes. Lipsiae, 

1731. republished in 1741. 
Castell, Lexicon Heptaglotton. Lond. 1699. 
Chrysostom. Paris, 1718. 
Cicero. Olivet. 

Clemens Alexandrinus. Oxon, 1715. 
Clemens Romanus, Epistola ad Corinthios. Edit. Wotton. Canta- 

brig. 1718. 
Clericus, Comment. Amstelodam. 1731. 
Codurcus, (Philo) Annotationes in Job. Paris, 1657, apud Crit. 

Sac. Vol. iii. 
Critici Sacri, sive Doctissimorum Virorum in SS. Bibl. Annotat. et 

Tract. Lond. 1660. 
Crinitus, de Honesta Disciplina. Paris, 1508. 
Cudwortb, Intellectual System. Lond. 1678. 
Cyprianus. Oxon. 1682. Paris, 1726. 
Cyrillus Alexandrinus. Paris, 1638. Lipsiae, 1696. 
Cyrillus Hierosolymitanus. Paris, 1720. 
D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale. Paris, 1697. 
Diodorus Siculus. Edit. Wetstein, 1745. 
Driedo, de Scripturis et Dogmatibus Ecclesiasticis. Edit. 1540. 

Opera Theologica. Graevius. Louvain, 1552 — 3 — 6. 
Drusius, apud Patres Apostolicos. 
Elmacinus, Historia Saracenica seu Calipharum. Edit. Lugd. Bat. 

1625. 
Epiphanius. Paris, 1622. 
Erasmi Censura Hieronymi apud Hieronymum. 
Eusebius, Praeparatio Evangelica. Paris, 1628. 

Ecclesiastica Historia. Paris, 1659. 

• Demonstratio Evangelica. Paris, 1628. 

Thesaurus Temporum. Amstelodami, 1658. 

Eutychius Alexandrinus. Edit. Selden, 1656. 

Fabricius, Joan. Albert. Codex Pseud epigraphus V. T. Hamb. 

1713. 1722-3. 1741. 

Bibliotheca Graeca. Hamb. 1708. 1728. 

Gregorius Nazianzenus. Paris, 1630. 

Gregorii Magni Opera. Paris, 1705. 

Gregentius, Disputatio cum Herbano Judaeo. Paris, 1586. 



LIST OF AUTHORS. 627 

Grotii Opera Theologica. Lond. 1679. 
Herodotus. Wesseling, Amstelodam. 1763. 
Hesychius, Comment, in Leviticum. Basil. 1527. 
Hieronymus. Paris, 1693. 
Hilarius. Paris, 1693. 

Hody, de Bibliorum Textibus Originalibus. Oxon. 1705. 
Hornius, de Originibus Americanis. Hag. Com. 1652. 
Hottinger, Historia Orientalis. Edit. Tiguri. 1651. 

; Thesaurus Philologicus. Tiguri. 1649. 

Houbigant, Biblia Hebraica. Paris, 1753. 

Huetius, Demonstratio Evangelica. Paris, 1679. 

Hunt, Clavis Pentateuchi. 

Jamblichus, de Mysteriis. Venet. apud Aid. 1497. 

Ignatii Epistola ad Magnesianos. Edit. Usser. 1644. 

Jonathan, Targum seu Paraphrasis Chaldaica in Hoseam, Joel, et 

Amos. Paris, 1556. 
Josephus. Hudson, Oxon. 1720. 
Irenaeus, contra Hsereses. Paris, 1710. 
Isidorus, Origines. Basil. 1577- 
de Vita et Obitu Sanctorum utriusque Testamenti. Hag. 

1529. 
Justin Martyr. Paris, 1742. and Edit. Thirlby. 
Kimchi, Comment, in Psalmos. Paris, 1666. 

Liber Radicum. 1555. 

Koran. Sale's Translation. 

Lactantius, Opera. Paris, 1748. 

Limborchus, Theologia Christiana. Amstel. 1686. 

Ludolphus, Historia Ethiopica. Franc. 1681. Lond. 1682. 

Lycophron. Edit. Potter, Oxon. 1697. Reichardus, Lips. 1788. 

Maimonides, More Nevochim. Edit. Buxtorf, Basil. 1629. Paris, 

1733. 
Maittaire, Annales Typographici. 
Maius, CEconomia Temporum Vet. et Nov. Test. 
Marsham, Canon Chronicus. Lipsiae, 1676. 
Mercerius, Comment, in Job, Proverbia, &c. 1573. 
Meursius, de Funere. Hag. Com. 1604. 
Morinus, Exercitationes Biblicae. Paris, 1633. 
Nicephorus, Historia Ecclesiastica. Paris, 1630. 
Origenes. Paris, 1733. 

Patres Apostolici. Edit. Coteler. Amstel. 1724. 
Paolo Sarpi's History of the Council of Trent. Venet. Lond. 1619. 
Pausanias, Graecias Descriptio. Lipsiae, 1696. 
Pezron, Essai d'un Commentaire Litteral et Historique sur les Pro- 

phetes. 1693. 
Pfeiffer, Opera. Amst. 1704. 
Philo. Edit. Mangey, 1742. 
Plato. Edit. Serrani. 
Plinius, Historia Naturalis. Paris, 1723. Harduin. 



628 LIST OF AUTHORS. 

Plutarch. Edit. Wyttenbach. 

Poli Synopsis. Lond. 1669. 

Poly carp. Epistola. Edit. Smith. Oxon. 1709. 

Porphyrius, de Abstinentia ab Esu Animalium. Cantab. 1655. 

Traj. ad Rh. 1767. 
Polybius. Lond. 1772. 

Procopius Gazagus. Paris, 1580. Leyd. 1720. 
Raymundi Martini Pugio Fidei. Lipsiae, 1687. 
Raynold, Censura Librorum Apocryphorura V.T. contr. Pontiflcios. 

Oppenheim, 1611. 
Robertson, Clavis Pentateuchi. 

Roque (Jean de la) Voyage de Syrie, &c. Paris, 1722. 
Rufiinus apud Hieronymum. 

Scaliger de Emendatione Temporum. Colonise Allobrog. 1629. 
Schultens, Lib. Job. cum nova versione et commentario. Lug. Bat. 

1737. 
Selden, Opera. Lond. 1726. 
Sennertus, Institutiones Medicinae. Witteb. 1628. 
Serarius, Comment. Moguntise, 1611. 
Sixtus Senensis, Bibliotheca Sancta. Colon. 1586. 
Spanhemius, Summa Historiae Ecclesiasticae. Lug. Bat. 1689. 
Sozomen, Historia Ecclesiastica. Cant. 1720. 
Sulpicius Severus, Sacra Historia Lug. Bat. 1647. 
Tertullianus. Edit. Rigaltii, Paris, 1664. 
Theophrastus, Opera. Lug. Bat. 1613. 
Theophylactus, Opera. Venet. 1754 — 63. 
Thevenot's Travels. Lond. 1687. 
Theodoretus. Paris, 1642. 
Ussher, Annales Vet. et Nov. Test. Lond. 1650—4. 

Chronologia Sacra. Oxon. 1660. Paris, 1673. Geneva, 1772. 

Valerius Maximus. Lug. Bat. 1670. 

Villalpandus, Comment, in Ezechiel. Rom. 1596 — 1604. 

Vossius, de Origine ac Progressu Idololatriae. Amstel. 1668. 

Vitringa, Observationes Sacrae. Edit. Franequerae, 1712. 

Wagenseilius, Tela Ignea Satanae. Altdorf. 1681. 

Witsius, Miscellanea Sacra. Amstel. apud Wolters, 1695. 

Wolfius, Curae Philologicae in Nov. Test. Hamb. 1733. 

Zonaras, Comment, in Canones SS. Apostolorum et Conciliorum. 

Paris, 1618. 



THE END. 



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